Me and my boys

Well, it’s no big secret that I’m pregnant again.  At 6 months my growing belly can no longer be hidden or denied.  It’s a walking advertisement to the world that I am going to be huge, hot, and swollen all summer long until somewhere around August 18.  And yet, we honestly could not be more excited.  Baby!  We love babies!

If you had asked me a few weeks ago I would have sworn it was a girl.  I was so sure, so convinced that this pregnancy was “different” and that since I already had a boy, it logically followed the next one should be a girl.  A few minutes in the ultrasound room was enough to show that I was quite wrong.

There’s no denying that one.

It took me a few minutes, hours, days to adjust to the idea, but now, once again, we honestly could not be more excited.  Boy!  We love boys!

More specifically, I love MY boys.  I love that Eli will have a brother-buddy to toughen him up.  I love that Zach will have another son to teach all his manly stuff to.  And odd though it is, there is some weird satisfaction in knowing that I would’ve been a successful medieval wife with my heir and spare.

For the next few years it will be me and my boys.

It’s going to be a good life.

Aye scatch bebes

Eli has a new mantra, and it is not a positive one.

It all started a few weeks ago when the gym daycare lady brought Eli up to my class.

"Eli is going to have to leave daycare for the day," she said.

"Aw, Eli, are you poopy?" (the usual cause of a daycare disturbance).

"No, Eli scratched a baby pretty bad so he needs to take a break for a little while."

I looked down at my happy, smiling child.

"Aye scatch bebe mommy!"

We had a serious chat (not for the first time) about not scratching after this episode.  And now, whenever the thought pops into his head he runs through his mantra:

Aye scatch bebes mommy?
No.  That's a big no-no.  We don't scratch babies.
Aye scatch Den?
No.  We don't scratch Gwen.
Aye scatch Mommy?
Definitely not.  We never scratch Mommy.
Aye scatch Daddy?
No.  We don't scratch ANYONE Eli.

 In the heat of the moment Eli doesn't always remember how big of a no-no scratching is, as evidenced by the large red scratch going down Gwen's face.  It's been almost a month and you can still see the scar.

 Luckily Gwen (and her parents) are quick to forgive and they remain the best of frenemies.

Easter x3

Last year, Eli had just turned one and Easter wasn't a big deal.  He was too little for egg hunts and didn't show much interest in his basket.  This year, however, he was obsessed.  Thanks to countless renditions of "Little Bunny Foo Foo" he was already pretty enamored with bunnies.  Throw in some candy in brightly colored eggs and a trip to Maimai's house and you've got a real winner.

 Easter #1
Our first Easter celebration (read: egg hunt) was with some neighbors the week before and was just a warm up for the main event.  Once Eli learned that egg hunting was a zero-sum game he became pretty aggressive and had to be forcibly removed  from the field when he had gathered his quota.  Then he wouldn't rest until each egg had been opened and the candy consumed.

Easter #2
We headed to the homestead for celebration number two, which conveniently coincided with Cabinoference.  We soaked in a day of good food, family, the great outdoors, and listening to our inspired church leaders.
 

Eli (and I) loved hanging out with his grandparents, Uncle Austin and dad.

Eli showed great enthusiasm for ping pong, the result of which was that Zach and I never got a game in.  I would've won, don't worry.

Finally napping

Riding the 4wheeler with Bompa made a HUGE impression on Eli.  Remember the pink monkey?  That phrase has now been replaced with "Bompa.  RIDE.  Fast!  WHOAAA!"

After Cabinoference we got to spend Easter with the Judkins where we once again enjoyed good food and family and another egg hunt.

Eli with Grampa

Eli wanted desperately to hold Calvin on his lap, but once Calvin was there he insisted he was too big and heavy.  That didn't stop him from constantly giving him loves all day though.  I can't blame him- Calvin is one adorable baby.

Pantless egg hunt.  That's how we roll.

I love these kids so much.  I'm so grateful that Eli has so many awesome cousins to be his heroes.  As soon as we get in the car, without fail, he asks if we're going to visit Jaxenwod.  No?  Maxinollee?  No?  Awwwww....

A big thank you to Randy for doing the mini shoot below.  I know its cliche, but I can't believe how big he's getting!  And so, so handsome.  Or maybe that's just me.

Easter #3
It was a hard adjustment to come home after 5 days in Utah.  It took all of Eli's stuffed animals giving him a big group hug to get over it.

Luckily we had one last Late Easter Brunch and egg hunt with some friends to take his mind off missing his cousins.  Unfortunately it cemented in Eli's mind that this egg hunt thing is a new frequent occurrence that should continue into the indefinite future.

I thought packing away all of the Easter eggs and decorations would help, but it turns out that's impossible.  There is ALWAYS another egg lurking in the back of some toy dump truck just waiting to spark another round of begging.  (Sigh)  Until next year Easter.

The merry merry month of March

Unlike our favorite sister and brother-in-law in New York, March brought pretty stellar weather to these parts.  Naturally the first thing to do was to go out and buy some hot sunglasses so that Eli could cruise the neighborhood in style.

 Then we hit the parks.  Where have these marvelous things been for the past 4 months?  We go, I enjoy the sun and idealistic images of my child's childhood, and Eli gets dirty and wears himself out.  It's a win for everyone until it's time to pack it up and go home.  Then the world ends.

Somehow even with all the fresh, healthy air we still managed to catch March Misery.  So.  Many.  Fluids.  I felt I was sufficiently warned about blowouts, spit ups, drool, and surprise pee squirts while I was pregnant, but I honestly could not have anticipated how many tissues and boogie wipes we could run through, or that my child would wake up as an unrecognizable lizard with scales all over his face.

 Our friendly household pharmacist dosed him with Zyrtec to try and plug the leaks, but it merely turned him into a leaking, staring zombie for 6 hours.  Zach checked and rechecked his dosing, but apparently Eli just can't handle his meds.

March is also the month that Zach gets old(er).  Because Zach feels the love through good food, we headed home to Utah to celebrate his birthday.  Elko is a little short on said love.  And we got to hang out with family, which is always a plus.

Note all the kiddos hanging around to make sure Zach is capable of blowing out his own candles.

Eli and Ollie, the two popsicle lovers

Swing with Grandpa

Swinging with Dad

Coolest uncle with the nephews

Zach's second family birthday dinner at the new Magleby abode

Grandma finally got Eli to sleep via Popular Science

To wrap Zach's birthday celebration week we saw Les Miserables at the local Elko theatre where my friend Carson did a marvelous job playing Cosette.  Val Jean is also pictured here, looking much cheesier than he did on stage.