Busy day!

Thank you everyone for your comments and your support about this new baby. We are very lucky to have you guys as family and friends! So tomorrow is a big day in our house: Matt takes the GRE test! Matt is very nervous, but I think he will do fine. Matt always gets nervous, and it usually ends up being for no reason. Either way, please keep him in your prayers! If Matt does well on this test, it will really increase his chances of getting into the speech pathology masters program in the fall. So keep your fingers crossed!

Also, the next big news in our house, is it is Luke's birthday on Friday!! I cannot believe my baby is two! And he is so smart! Lucas knows shapes (circle, square, heart, star, triangle), he knows some colors (red, blue, yellow, green, sometimes pink), and he knows a few letters (A,B,E,O,K,Y, sometimes R). The kid is amazing with music! I don't know how he does it, but he knows tunes to so many songs!! He can sing so many songs and is so good at them. Now I know I am biased, but I think my kid is so smart! I know this is kind of cheesy, and it is mainly for me to look back and maybe cry a little, but here is a slide show of Lucas from when he was born til now. What a cutie! Next week Lucas has his 2 year appt, so I would be putting his stats up then, along with pictures from tomorrow. Happy Birthday Lucas!!

Surprise.....

Surprise to all of us, baby #2 is on his/her way!! Most people know that Matt and I have been at a disagreement for several months, I keep saying it is time to have another baby, and Matt keeps saying no. After months of bothering and pestering, and any other form of begging you can think of, I decided to cool off a bit (just a bit). Turns out, it was pointless, I was already pregnant! Now, I know what many are thinking "she tricked him", well let me set the record straight, I DID NOT!! We found out the day after Labor Day, and we were totally shocked. To be honest, I had mixed emotions, I was excited, but scared to death, I still am. Matt is doing very well considering he wasn't ready to have another one yet. He is still very nervous, but I think we will both be that way clear until the kid is all grown up. I don't think the nervousness of parenthood ever goes away. At least it hasn't with Lucas.

I am due May 15th, and am 11 weeks along. As you can tell it has been awhile since I have posted last, now you know why, I have been very sick! This pregnancy has been a lot harder than Luke's, I am not sure if that is because now I have a 2 year old to take care of along with myself, or if it is just harder. I have been taking some medicine to help (which I never even considered with Lucas cause it wasn't bad), and yesterday and today I have finally been able to feel a difference. I am hoping to get over this sickness phase soon. I have learned to admire all mothers who go through this multiple times. I will most likely have more kids, but I don't know how I will do it. I think of women I know who have 3-5 kids and are pregnant! How do they do it?! Poor Lucas has had to watch so much TV because I don't feel well enough to play with him, or even to get up off the couch. How do women do it with several kids? They amaze me. Lucas is doing well with it, well as good as he can at 2 years of age. He points to my tummy (yes I am already showing, no surprise since I was showing at 8 weeks with Lucas) and says "baby". We had our first ultrasound done, and unfortunately Lucas couldn't go, but he likes to look at the pictures and says hi to the baby. Though we are very scared to be parents of two children and we both feel really young to have two kids already, we are very excited for this new phase of our lives. We just adore Lucas and we are so excited to welcome another sweet spirit into our home.

As Matt and I have had to come to grips with all of this, I feel like it has strengthened our testimonies. A few weeks ago in church we sang hymn #169 'As Now We Take the Sacrament.' There was one part in particular that stuck out to me, it is verse 3 "...And silently we pray for courage to accept Thy will, to listen and obey. We love Thee, Lord, our hearts are full. We'll walk thy chosen way." As I have been praying to our Heavenly Father to help me prepare for this, I feel comforted. It is obvious to me that although we don't always see it, and sometimes we might never understand it, God has His own plan for us.

HELP!

So I need ideas. The last 3 days Lucas has skipped his nap. And that's a problem in of itself, but I think he is skipping them because he isn't getting all of his energy out. Usually we play outside every morning and every afternoon. I like to wear him out so he will nap. But with the cold weather, we have been inside. I have been trying to do activities but he doesn't have a long attention span. So I am wondering if anyone has some ideas of games and activities for a 2 year old? I need things we can do inside, and I need things that are cheap, but fun for a 2 year old. If anyone can help me, I would appreciate it! :)

How do I react to this

This morning Matt called home from work, and told me to check my email. He said he wanted to hear my reaction so he stayed on the phone while I get things settled with Lucas before I even turned on the computer. Once I started reading the email, I realized is was written to Matt from his brother Bruce. I kept hearing Matt snicker on the phone. I hope Bruce doesn't mind me putting his email on our blog, but it was too funny to pass up. My only question is, how do I react to this??

Matt,

I helped someone move last night and returned home at around 8:00. I was tired after a long day of work and some physical exercise and decided I should sit down and watch some tv, you know, to unwind a little. Without looking for it I found I Robot on FX and began watching it. As the story moved along I began to remember how much I liked the movie. Then I saw him…you know…the robot, Sonny. The individual one. And something about him kept bothering me. He looked so familiar to me and I couldn't figure out who he looked like. Take a look, anyone come to mind?



As the movie moved toward its conclusion I found myself thinking about who he looked like instead of enjoying the action scenes that are now so outdated. And then it finally hit me. Look below and tell me what you think. I don’t know if it’s the strength of character in the face, the ponderous look, or what but I think they bear a striking resemblance. I hope this isn’t an insult as it certainly isn’t meant as one but I think they actually look alike. Perhaps even more so now as Luke has gotten a little older since this photo was taken.

Pet Peeve: "You're too young..."

We know. We get it. Just like Brigham Young knew this was the place. Just like we know there’s another divorce looming in Hollywood. The big secret’s out: Brooke and I look young.

Gasp! Is it really true? Can we finally see it just like everyone else? What took us so long to come to such an obvious conclusion?

Can you sense the sarcasm? Something tells me even after making such a bold declaratrion regarding our physical features, it’s not going to stop the many strangers at the local grocery store, or many friends, or even family members from feeling it necessary to tell us how young we look. Or better yet, to tell us that we’re "too young" to be doing something.

We’re too young to be married. We’re too young to have a son. We’re too young to be watching PG-13 movies. As you can imagine, we’ve heard it all, and there’s no sign the comments will cease anytime in the near future.

I guess what bothers Brooke and I the most about the daily “too young” comments, and the many blatant stares we get in our direction is that these same people have obvious physical ailments, or look to be in questionable living conditions themselves. Take the cashier at Dan’s grocery store for instance, who recently told Brooke, “you’re too young to have a baby,” and then followed up the comment by looking down at her wedding ring and shaking his head disgustedly. I guess we’re just supposed to overlook the fact that this man was a 50-something bachelor with nostrils full of overgrown hair, and who looked more depressed than a scene in the movie Crash.

Or take the guy who recently turned to me and said, “you shouldn’t have any kids, man, what are you 12-years old?” This coming from a guy who’s over 300 pounds and eating fried chicken for lunch. Am I missing something there?

Maybe Brooke and I are overreacting. Maybe this is a silly pet peeve. But, as in anybody’s case, unfair judgments based upon someone’s physical appearance eventually take their toll. It might even one day incite an unfriendly verbal response. So, next time you see Brooke or myself, be sure to tell us we look exactly the age our years indicate (25, 22). Otherwise, you could be the one who’s on the other side of the judgment parade :)...

Best FRIENDS

The past 3-4 months Lucas has started playing with other kids. But his best friend is Cooper. Cooper is 4 months older than Lucas, and Lucas looks up to Cooper so much. They have the funniest, most frustrating relationship. Lucas walks over to Coopers and bangs on the door until someone answers, and walks right in, and makes himself at home. He calls for Cooper all day, and follows him around everywhere. Most of the time I think Cooper is pretty excited to see Lucas too. But they fight so much! It is a perfect "love/hate" relationship. Since Cooper is moving (tonight) he has been at his Grandma's for a few days and Lucas has been like a lost boy. He has been walking around knocking on their door and calling for Cooper all day! Cooper finally came home today, and when they saw each other they got the cutest smiles! And they just stared at each other, it was like they didn't know what to do, they were in shock almost. It was so sweet! I took the two boys out for a walk, to keep Cooper out of the way of the movers, and they were so funny. I have taken them out together a few times and every time I hear people say "Oh look at the twins!" Well, on our walk the two boys found a hill, and ran up and down it over, and over, and over, and over. They finally got worn out, so instead of running, they crawled. What cute kids. Here are a bunch of pictures of just how cute they are. We are going to miss having Cooper and Elsie so close! Aren't they cute?!
Running so fast
This one is my favorite, Lucas was petting Cooper like a dog, and Cooper has the cutest smile in it!


Too tired to run


Make sure you read the post below, it is a good one! :)

Yoda

After I came home from playing with Lucas and Cooper, I put Lucas to bed, and then walked into my room and found this....



I stood there, at the bedroom door, just staring. I can't even tell you what was going through my mind. First I thought, 'Is Yoda really in my room?' then I thought 'Should I touch it?' 'Am I really that tired?' Finally I went over to it, and touched it. It is a card board cut out of Yoda. So I called my friends the ones who are brave enough to come into my apartment since I forgot to lock the door. I don't really know what else to say, except thanks Cyndi, that made my day. :) Turns out Cyndi was waiting for me to leave so she could surprise me. She had been planning this for days. It worked, I think everyone would be surprised to see a giant Yoda above their bed. Tonight I get to sleep under Yoda's watchful eye.