Oh boy, oh Birthday boy!

So, we now have a three and four year old in our home.  Really?!  How did that happen?!  Crue-zer celebrated his 3rd birthday a couple weeks ago and we had the most fun!  Our little man requested a firefighter birthday this go 'round, complete with a visit to the fire station, siren on the golf cart and house full of mini firemen and women.  Daddy took the boys to the fire station in the morning to ask the firemen if the boys could look at the firetruck.  Well, a look at the fire truck turned into... a tour of the station, playing with an actual fire hose, sitting in the truck, trying to move the fire-dummy and suiting up in all the guy's gear.  They had so much fun.  Later in the afternoon our home was overrun with 15 little firefighters and their parents.  With a bounce house in the back and a game on in the living room the party was a piece of cake!  Rob and Wes took the little guys on golf cart rides, while I manned the island of food in the kitchen.  Crue loved his firetruck tent from Auntie Karen and after opening it- pretty much ignored the rest of us except for his friend Rachel for the remainder of the party. All in all, another successful birthday party completed.  As I was tucking the little guy in bed that night I asked him about his birthday- his soft response was all I could have asked for.  "My birthday was awesome mommy."

Canyon gave me yet another reason to adore him this last week.  Friday- late morning, I was upstairs folding laundry while listening to the boys play downstairs.  I guess it had been a little quiet, but for some reason I had failed to notice.  Suddenly Canyon charged into my bedroom with a look of pride splashed across his little face.  "Mommy" he stated.  "Close your eyes.  I have a surprise to show you downstairs."  Uh-oh... what am in for?!  I cheated and kept my eyes open on the way down the stairs, but closed them as he led me into the kitchen.  "Okay, open your eyes!"  And what do you think lay in front of me?  Oh, just a paper towel spread flat with breadcrumbs littered all over it.  And next to it was the jar of peanut butter, bottle of jelly, an open bag of bread and a "safety" butter knife.  I asked him if he wanted me to make a PB&J and he replied.  "I already made one and ate it all gone.  I got some on the floor right here.  Are you disappointed mom?"  I didn't even know what to say!  I scooped that little man up in my arms and hugged him like I've never hugged him.  Of course I wasn't disappointed!!  My four year old just made himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!!!  How long was I upstairs?!  Part of me was beaming with pride and part of me was mortified that Can-can hadn't just come to find me and ask me to make it for him.  Not one minute later he disappeared upstairs, stripped down to his undies and put himself in bed for a nap.  When I found him, I let him know that it was a little too early for nap time, after which I scooped him up again and hugged him for being such a big boy!!

Kids Say the Silliest Things

First of all Canyon asked that we start calling him Jack this week. Fortunately it was a short lived request.
Now anyone who knows Canyon knows that he is never at a loss for words and is always ready to put on a show. He's just like Rob in that respect- entertaining to a fault sometimes. For some reason these last couple of weeks have really brought out the spunk in that little man. He regularly spouts off comments that catch me completely off guard and leave me longing to live in the Big Brother House where all his comedic remarks could be caught on tape for me to relive over and over again at my leisure.
I learned a lesson this week. Canyon is now too old to hop in the shower with mom when she is feeling too lazy to give he and Crue a bath. I'm not sure when it happened, but Canyon started noticing "certain things" about mommy. He's always pointed out the fact that I have a little something extra up top and has often questioned me about when he's going to receive his own. This last week while in the shower, with a sound of concern in his little voice he said "Mommy, your peter fell off." Think fast Shannon! What's an appropriate response? Hmmm... how 'bout some plain old fashioned honesty.- it's become somewhat of a novelty these days so why not try and bring it back?! "Canyon, Mommies don't have peters, just Daddies and little boys." He didn't seem the least bit caught off guard by my response. Whoa, honesty huh? That was easy. He followed my response by pointing to my C-section scar and asking "Is that where I came from when I was a baby?" Smart little kid. "Yep. You and Cruezer came from Mommy's tummy." Canyon: "When is another baby going to come from there?" Uh... "Mommy doesn't have room for any more babies in there." Canyon :"Okay." And it was that simple. And P.S. I kinda love the fact that I've had the two C-sections for the simple fact that I never have to give them a real explanation of where babies are delivered from... I'm completely content with their only knowledge on the subject being that babies come from a little "line" on mommies' tummies. He he he. I hope I'm not ruining them.
Just yesterday as I was inhaling my third (yes third-sorry Richard Simmons) cupcake Canyon exclaimed "Mommy, that's too much sugar!" "You're right, Canyon." I replied with what I can only assume were crumbs flying out of my mouth. Canyon: "If you eat too many they will make you slow." Rob and I just looked at each other and grinned. "That is your last one!" Canyon finished. Something tells me he was less concerned about Mommy being slow or consuming too many calories and more concerned about the number of cupcakes that would be left for him the next day.
Recently he has become quite interested in occupations and has begun telling us regularly what he is going to be when he grows up. I figured it was important to get it all down in print so when that blessed day of employment finally arrives we can share with him what his 4 year old ambitions were. As of this week he was going to be a skateboard man, car dealership man, a motorcycle guy, a real estate agent and he was going to deliver babies. Cute little guy! What an undertaking!

Now, as for my little pop star... I always feel a little guilty because Crue is yet to entertain me like Canyon and I always seem to have less to say, but don't worry little guy- I have a feeling it's only a matter of time before you're running circles around your big brother in the entertainment category. He is constantly dancing and bopping his head along to his favorite songs. He has managed to learn practically every word to We Are Young by the group F.U.N. and never misses an opportunity to jump up on the ottoman and perform for the masses. He's been driving me a little nuts lately with his insistence that everyone else do things for him. How did this child become so entitled?! There's a possibility it was my fault. If he leaves something in his bed after nap he will literally sit on the stairs and cry for an hour until someone goes and gets it for him. It's ridiculous! I'm trying to nip it in the bud, but often times it's just easier to appease the kid rather than listen to the whining. I'm trying though! He's obsessed with his (actually it's Canyon's) pirate costume from Auntie Karen and would literally have it super-glued to his body if it meant he could wear it forever. We're starting to plan his 3rd birthday party- I can't wait!

Love... sweet love.

Two days ago Canyon asked me "Mom, when I grow up can I marry you?" And then today he said "Mom, when I grow up I'm going to marry Mazie." I know that it's wrong, but I was jealous! How did I go from the most important woman in his life to 2nd best in a matter of hours? Geez, 4 year olds are fickle!! Love is definitely in the air though when it comes to that little man! February has got him twitterpated over his little friend Mazie at school. Mazie is actually a twin. Her sister's name is McKenzie who Canyon also references regularly, but nothing like the way he speaks about Mazie. He has even gone as far as having me create a Wii character for her, which he designed complete with Mazie's cute glasses! This little love affair started a few months ago when his preschool teacher (Miss Lisa) told me how the three of them had been spending a significant amount of time together. He he he! She told me that Canyon would walk around holding the two girls' hands- one on either side. She said he even went as far as to pull out their chairs for them so they would sit next to him. A couple weeks later Miss Lisa told me that Mazie was insisting on a play date with Canyon and asked if it was okay to give the girls' mom our phone number. (A play date is in the works) Last week while she was bringing Canyon out to the car he was covering his face with his school bag. Miss Lisa said "I'd have to cover my face too if I got all the attention this one gets from the others." I literally laughed out loud! She said that he has the best personality and the more she gets to know him the more incredible she thinks he is. What a sweet thing to hear from his teacher. Just when I was concerned that he was too wild and naughty I get to hear something sweet like that! Thanks Miss Lisa!!! You're the best!!

A couple weeks ago as I was walking Crue upstairs for a nap I said "Get to bed Fred."
To which Crue responded "My name's not Fred."
"Well pardon me, sir. What is your name?" I replied.
"Cruzer Boozer." He stated very matter-of-factly.
I guess we've been calling him that for so long that he believes it. Silly little guy. So Crue has come to that age where everything is a question. He easily asks over 100
questions a day. Often times I find myself relieved when Rob gets home because then I can push some of the questions his way. As of late he insists on dressing up as a pirate every chance he gets. While I'm not a huge fan of the pirate costume 24/7 I do allow him to wear it while we're at home. The little pants have a tear that has gone from a small rip at the cuff to a substantial tear that goes all the way to the elastic waistband! But does that deter that little man from wearing them? Not a chance! Crue's favorite new show is called Octonauts (they both love it) and whenever the closing song comes on Crue leaps up onto the ottoman and does a little dance. The song is called Creature Report and he has a very specific part where he claps and heaven forbid he misses the clapping part because if he does he makes me rewind it back- ha ha!! He is still as sweet as ever. I was not feeling too hot the other night and he told me "Mommy, hugs will make you all better." And he hugged me every chance he got. I love that little guy more than anything. I think he got his sweetness from Canyon... whose sweetness towards me has unfortunately begun to fade. Don't get me wrong, I know he still loves me, but we've definitely gotten to that sassy, push mom away stage and I'm not handling it too well. Fortunately, I've got my little Crue-cumber to balance things out! I've easily got the two greatest boys on the planet, though!

Not much else to report this month. I guess sometimes no news is good news, right?!

It's the most WONDERFUL time of the year!!! Please sing that as you read it. We love winter!!

We love everything about it... especially when it snows!! The boys both know that every time it snows we get HOT CHOCOLATE! Mmmmmm! Canyon will wake me up at 6am at the first sign of a single snowflake if he has to! Unfortunately this winter has been lacking in the hot chocolate department because we've been massively lacking in the snow department. Boo!!! We got the coolest new sled a couple months ago and haven't been able to use it a single time. Very sad! Not sure why Canyon was frowning in his photo... perhaps he could foresee the lack of hot chocolate days in his future.

Don't worry though. We didn't let the lack of snow put a damper on our otherwise fantastic holiday season!! Canyon and Crue made out like bandits on Christmas day!! When they sat on Santa's lap earlier in the month they each asked for a very interesting item. Crue asked for a pink bell... hmmm. (Daddy's only a little concerned.) And Canyon asked for a tuba. Yep, a tuba. How did we go from a tea set last year to a tuba this year?! Where does he get these ideas? Well, Santa delivered. A massive pink bell and a yellow tuba awaited my little guys on Christmas morning and as the laws of nature would have it- neither of them are ever played with. Grrrrrr! Oh well. They also got a boy's Firehouse/Police Station playhouse (big hit), a pair of plasma cars (huge hit), remote control cars, the Smurfs and Cars 2 movies, books, golf clubs and games. They each got quite the haul and were both thrilled about the whole day. After presents we did a movie with the Janneys, The Adventures of Tin Tin- all the boys (big and small) loved it. It was such a fun day!
We were also lucky enough to get to see Canyon perform in his preschool Christmas programduring December. He was so darn cute! As soon as he walked into the auditorium 2 little girls practically knocked him over trying to hug him! We love that he's such a lady's man. I was shocked he didn't try and shout over his classmates during the actual program, considering he had been belting out his newly learned tunes in the car. Instead, he actually seemed a little shy and reserved which was quite surprising. Now whenever Crue tries to sing a song Canyon scolds him and reminds him that he's not in preschool and those songs are only for "preschool boys."


We also took up skiing the week of Christmas. Seeing as how Canyon and Crue have the greatest Grandma ever- that means they also get the greatest Christmas presents too! For Christmas this year Canyon, Brycen and Kelsen were lucky enough to take 2 ski lessons at the Canyons together! They had the greatest time! And Crue and I had the best time watching them! He rolled in the out-of-bounds snow pack, took a quick ski ride with Aunt Kell, got to meet a skiing Santa Clause and road the Gondola with me a handful of times. We even took a ride and had a picnic lunch together in it! Crue was quite the adorable little snow baby! The boys were awesome in the snow. The first day they had a lesson it snowed ALL day long and those little ski bunnies didn't complain a single time. They all loved their teacher Abbie! They couldn't have been cuter! Can is learning so quickly and I cannot wait for the next chance to take him up! He loved it!!!








On Christmas Rob surprised us with a trip down to warm and sunny Scottsdale. We took off early the next morning and headed for sunny Arizona. We rented a jeep, did some sightseeing, ate great food, swam, the boys golfed and had an all around great time. The most exciting thing we got to do was visit the Safari Park. We got to go on, what felt like, a real safari. We saw lions, tigers, zebras, bears, giraffes, antelope, an ostrich, rhino and camel. Not to mention the alligator, monkeys and birds. Crue got to feed the giraffes by hand. One took the food right out of my mouth- it was quite romantic! Canyon wasn't too impressed by the giraffes, but he fed the camel and thought that was pretty awesome! It was amazing! Now I can't wait to take the boys on a real African Safari one day!!

Oh bumpers! (As Canyon, Crue and I say) I was doing so well with my goal of one post a month and then stinkin' November came and went. Maybe I forgot to post something because nothing noteworthy seemed to happen. Yep, that's it. I didn't forget... completely intentional.

Before I forget... here are a few of the much anticipated Halloween photos!!
Anyhow, November, November, November... what happened in November? Rob and all his brilliant holiday planning took us to a hotel for Thanksgiving this year. I'm so lucky that he's always so creative in that way. Our best friend Marty was great enough to book us a suite at the Marriott downtown. Rob came home early Wednesday evening and we packed our little suitcases and took Trax downtown. We checked in, walked to Macaroni Grill for dinner and hurried back to the hotel to order room service for dessert. The boys loved every second of it. Uncle Wes arrived later that evening and we all got up bright and early and ordered another round of room service for breakfast. Rob convinced them to make him a pepperoni pizza- yum! Then we headed over to the pool for a quick swim. Catastrophe!!! On our way to the pool Canyon decided he wanted to take his shoes off like Uncle Wes so he sat down by the entrance of the elevator- in doing so he accidentally placed his little hand on the track and the door started to close over his finger. I realized what was happening just as he was ripping his finger from the closing door. I knew it had caused some damage and was almost too scared to look. (I've realized that 6+ years of nursing experience goes right out the window when it's your own baby.) Anyhow, Rob immediately ran away, too terrified to see what may have happened and I just scooped the now screaming Canyon into my arms, made sure the finger was still attached and rushed toward the room. Once inside I assessed the injury which miraculously enough was just that the skin had been torn from both sides of his finger. It looked pretty painful and he cried for longer than he's ever cried before, but at least he still had a finger. Oddly enough the thing that kept playing over and over in my head was the Thanksgiving episode of 'Friends" where Chandler cut off his toe on Thanksgiving- sad I know. So we bandaged him up and tossed him in the pool and within 10 minutes he had forgotten all about it! After swimming we headed down for our Thanksgiving feast, which was even more delicious since I didn't have to prepare a thing!! It was such a fun day!Not 2 days later Canyon dove onto a throw pillow on the TILE kitchen floor and smacked his mouth. There was so much blood I was certain a trip to the ER was in store for us, but one wet washcloth and bag of ice later it turned out to be just a really huge bloody lip. That kid is going to give me a run for my money in the near future.

One Saturday while the boys were supposed to be napping Canyon decided to make a game of how many times he could get out of bed. He would casually walk into our room and say the strangest things. One of the times he said "Mommy Daddy, sometimes my pee pee is long and hurts when I'm trying to go to sleep." Rob and I looked at each other in slow motion and I left it to daddy to field that one. Rob replied "Take off your jeans while you sleep. Maybe they're too tight." The next time he came in he stated "My bum is stinky." Rob joked "Let me smell it!" and then he scooped Canyon up to sniff the back of his undies to which Canyon replied- "No, it's when I stick my finger right here!" And the kid put his finger in the top of his bum crack before we could stop him. Gross! Rob washed his hands and sent him straight back to bed.
Next time he came running in shouting "I have to go potty REALLY bad! I only pee peed in my underwear a tiny bit!" (Have I ever mentioned that Canyon needs to strip naked to go potty?) Anyhow, he spent entirely too long in our bathroom fiddling around and when we told him to get his little bum back to bed he proceeded to show me the dime sized wet spot on his undies. I told him to put his underwear in the laundry room and get to bed. Not 5 seconds later we heard the dryer door open and close, the buttons pushed and the dryer started. Oh what fun it is to have a 4 year old.
On a completely separate occasion... not on that special "no-nap" day; our conversation went as follows-
Me: "What are you watching Can?"
Can: "Coconut Hauntus." (aka Pocahontas) Just thought it was cute!

It's really sad that I don't have an abundance of Crue's cute sayings, but he just doesn't talk as much yet. I'm sure it's soon to come, though. Currently, his favorite thing to say is "Mommy, I think I love you." It's the sweetest thing to hear! We also have arguments over who is the best. He'll say "Mommy, you're the best." And I'll reply "No you're the best." And it'll go back and forth as long as I let it. We recently went up to PC to pick out our ornaments for the year and Crue chose a moose. He's been carrying around every chance he gets. I have had to keep reminding him to be careful because it's breakable and up until yesterday he had been extra careful. But, last night while I was getting ready for work he wandered up to my room and proudly displayed his moose saying "Look Mommy. He's a doggy." He had somehow broken off the antlers and loved that he now had a "new" ornament. I scolded him for breaking his moose to which he replied. "You don't love the moose. I love the moose." I asked him where the antlers were and he stated that they were gone and he didn't have them anymore. I asked him if he put them in the garbage and he replied. "No, I hided them." I had him lead me to the hidden antlers, glued them back on the moose and set the moose up high. I suppose he'll just have to find a less fragile ornament next time. He's quite enamored with our "Elf on the Shelf" who has been named Roodle (by Canyon) and has been asking for one of his own. I ordered him a special plush elf which he has carried around with him everywhere and will probably continue to do so well after the holiday.

I'm having so much fun with my little crumb crunchers these days. We love having our own little lunch dates and shopping together. They seem to be getting a little easier (knock on wood) when we're out and about and I love it. I am so very lucky to be their mom!

Cupcakes, candy, cookies... Oh My!!! Well, October has come and nearly gone which means- the Corcoran family has been overwhelmed with treats of all kinds. I'm pretty sure I've gained about 5 lbs over the last thirty days... just in time for Thanksgiving and Christmas- hooray! The fall weather is always a welcomed treat and we've taken plenty of opportunities to head outdoors and enjoy the mountains. I know I often complain about Rob's incessant need to "go for a drive" every weekend, but sometimes it really is beautiful! While this is definitely my favorite time of year, it also lends itself to my busiest time of year. Canyon's birthday, followed by my own and then Halloween make for an exhausting few weeks. Throw in a trip to California to see some of our favorite people and a second attempt at potty-training and I'm spent well before the trick-or-treating begins. Tiring as it's been, it's also been a heap of fun!!! Remind me never to attempt making their costumes.

Canyon turned 4!!! I cannot believe 4 years have come and gone- how did it happen?! My chubby little mess maker is now a lean- loud- mess maker! Can wanted a "Pirate" themed birthday party this year and mommy delivered! (Or at least I made a valiant effort.) We celebrated at the clubhouse this year, which is where we were able to celebrate his very first birthday as well. Aunt Kelly sent me an awesome pirate ship that I set on top of a sea of blue frosted cupcakes- complete with whales, dolphins, sea turtles (per Crue's request) and octupi (is that the plural?). I made blue jello cups with Swedish fish and orange wedge pirate ships. We made a wooden plank, painted the words "Walk the Plank" on it and Uncle Wesley jimmy-rigged it to the beams above- I kept my fingers crossed that a lawsuit wasn't headed my way. Perhaps I should have asked the parents to sign a waiver as they entered the festivities. Rob had Chic-Fil-A cater the event to take some of the stress off me- and boy did it ever! Good Job Rob!! Uncle Wayner made balloon swords for the kiddies. We had a dress up bucket for the guests- complete with eye patches, bandannas and sweet mustaches! I painted a pirate cut-out for the kids to put their faces in- it made for some pretty cute pictures and I still can't bring myself to toss it out. We had a big bounce house out back- which I now realize was all I needed. My life would have been a whole lot easier had I just grabbed a box of cheeseburgers and a bounce house... but then I wouldn't have all my cute photos I suppose. We were also lucky enough to get an indestructible treasure chest pinata. We went through all the kids, some twice, before we finally had to have Wes crack the thing open and even then the broom stick ended up bent in two- how that's conducive to a child's birthday party is beyond me! Everyone came and LOVED it all! I think it turned out great- if I do say so myself! Canyon had four friends from preschool come with their families. Trillie, Peyton, Caden and Asia. We also had the Colliers, Sandgrens, Meads, Klemmes, Jolleys and Morales families. Peyton's mom said it was the "best birthday party she had ever been to"... not that I'm bragging- ha ha. All that matters was that Canyon thought it was great. He has already begun the countdown to next year's birthday! We finished the party with a photo of the boys which we took 3 years ago (minus a little Crue baby.) I think its a framer.

The night before Canyon's birthday party we celebrated my birthday. We made plans to head down to Texas Roadhouse in Provo to have Wes serve us. When we got there I was surprised to see Christy and the kids waiting outside for me and even more so to have Wayne (Rob had flown him in) waiting in the booth. It was the best surprise ever! Dinner was great and Rob got me my own fancy new Ipad- which I LOVE! We did Cheesecake Factory with Marty and Katrina (2 of my favorite people in the world) the following night (after Canyon's party)... hmmmm I wonder why I've gained some weight this last month.

I woke up Sunday morning to Rob and his "impulses" saying "Let's go to California!" To which I replied "Okay!" One short hour later the car was packed and we were on our way to surprise Joan (who was heading over seas a little sooner than we had expected) and the Janneys. Rob drove us out and flew back to Utah to work the next day. Crue was smitten with Otzi (Aunt Kelly's dog) from the second we arrived and proceeded to follow him around the house begging for the dog to "lick" him. It was pretty fun to watch. We took the boys to the park, to Disneyland and to the beach. It wasn't until the beach day that Canyon exclaimed "This is the BEST day ever!" He pleaded with me every day to stay in California and never return to Utah- and believe me I was tempted to oblige. We had so much fun in the land of the sun and sea- who would ever want to leave?! But alas, Rob flew out the following Sunday and we loaded up the car and headed back home, much to the dismay of our little rug rats. Interesting sidebar- on our way home as we were heading into St. George there was an electronic traffic sign that said "ROLL ALL WINDOWS UP. BEE SWARM 5 MILES AHEAD." Rob and I just looked at each other in confusion, but he checked all the windows anyhow and locked them so the boys couldn't accidentally roll them down. Sure enough, just 5 miles up the highway, a tractor trailer carrying several crates of bees had overturned and there was a swarm like I couldn't imagine. Rob took a picture as we drove by and a snapped a quick video. It was definitely a sight to be seen. A couple hours later I tried to look up the story on the news and there it was. Rob called and offered his photo and they were thrilled to get it- too funny. He instantly started referring to himself as a celebrity and his name and photo were featured in the article later that evening.

And here's the link if you're dying to see Rob's name in print- like I'm sure you are. http://stgeorge.fox13now.com/news/news/63596-angry-bees-complicating-clearing-semi-crash-near-st-george

Moving on... Halloween is later this evening- hooray! I have two little pirates that can't wait to hit the streets and demand candy from complete strangers. Canyon has chosen to be Jack Sparrow this year and without any ideas from mom Crue has chosen to be Captain Hook. We cannot wait to take them out tonight!

Potty training has begun again with a much better outcome. Crue took right to it once again, but this time he's remained interested -phew! He's done such an amazing job, with just the occasional accident that only seem to occur when Daddy's around... hmmmmm. He got his awesome potty-prize for doing so well his first week! It's a talking garbage truck named Stinky- it's pretty cute.

Though incredibly busy- it's been and incredibly fun month. I'm hoping for a brief lull come November 1st, but I'm certain it'll be short lived. I suppose I should begin preparing myself now!

Hmmmm.... What's new?

Well, we're on the countdown towards Canyon's 4th birthday... which means that everything we see in the store, on commercials, driving down the road becomes a "Birthday" request. Just today Canyon saw our rental car (from 3 months ago) driving down the road and said "Mom!! That's the car we drove in California! I want that car for my birthday! I don't want this car anymore." I reminded him that we had a very nice car and he needed to be grateful for it- he didn't have much of a response. And then we have Crue, who follows his brother's example explicitly. He'll get those little hands on something in the store and I'll tell him to put it back. Each time he responds with one of two questions "I kiss it?" after which he gives it a good smootch and then sets it down or "I get this for my birthday!" Too funny!! Aunt Kelly asked Can what he wanted for his birthday today and he responded "A dery dery dery dery dery dery big jet plane." Hmmm... what am I supposed to do with that? And why can't my little man pronounce his "V" sound?? I guess I should just appreciate the fact that he has recently begun to say his name correctly. It's no longer "Tanyon" hooray!!! It was always amusing to me which words he
could pronounce correctly and which words he couldn't.

Can-can, you are loving preschool! Apparently you have a little girl at school who is quite taken with you- not that I can blame her. Her name is Trillie and when I asked you about her you told me she wanted your phone number, but you told her "No, it's my phone number. You can't have it." You told me how you were playing on the pirate ship at recess and she "coupled" you. I wasn't quite sure what that meant and to be honest I was a little concerned. I had you show me what coupling was and you acted as though you were tying up your brother so I guess that's okay. Canyon!!!! You are a product of your father!!! You are awake and in my face EVERY SINGLE MORNING at around 6:30AM! Please stop!!! Maybe daddy loves to be up with the roosters, but mommy DOES NOT!!! You storm into my room, no regard for the fact that I may have just arrived home from work an hour before and beg me to get up! "It's a beautiful day!" you'll sometimes say as you fling open my curtains. You'll plead at my bedside for breakfast- typically you just ask for cereal. You cry real tears when I'm physically unable to hop out of bed. And though it sometimes breaks my heart- I don't think it will change the fact that I have NO desire to be up at 6:30. I do LOVE you though!!! Just a few nights ago I was kissing you goodnight. I gave you one big kiss followed by a slew of quick little pecks. Suddenly you stopped me, grabbed my face in your hands and said "Oh sweetheart, you're so kissy!" It was pretty much the funniest thing I had ever heard you say and it has now become our regular thing each night! I love it times a million!!

Crue, my sweet boy!!! You, on the other hand, sleep in but that in no way excuses the fact that you awaken multiple times a night! Aaarrrgg! Mommy really needs some uninterrupted sleep boys!! You wake up at least 2-3 times most nights and yell for mommy. You don't usually cry unless it's your legs that are hurting you. Speaking of your legs... we finally got you in to see an orthopedic surgeon about those cute little legs of yours. Yes, you are bow-legged- that was confirmed. No, it is not a problem and he believes they will hopefully straighten out over the next few years. You were so cooperative for your X-ray. You're coordination is definitely starting to improve, but I still think it's so cute how your little foot crosses over the opposite one. Your current "best fuzzy friend" is Papa Smurf. You call him Papa. You carry him everywhere, wrap him in your blanket and you have me tuck him in with you at night- I LOVE it!!! Speaking of your blanket... you let me take it away- Wahoo!!! Kinda. It was actually all Grandma's doing. I took you to the store and told you we were getting you a big boy blankie. You got to choose whatever fabric you wanted. You immediately found the Buzz Lightyear material, but quickly traded it in for a Cars print because it had "Fillmore" on it. Mommy put a little edge on it and gave it to you that first night and you didn't even ask for that stinky little football scrap of a blanket. The next day we were wandering a different store when you discovered a cute little froggy fleece. You said "The froggy is naked" and I decided I HAD to buy it and make you another blankie. The very next day we were at yet another store and sure enough you found a third blankie material you liked. I guess after that 2nd one you thought you'd get a new blankie everyday. Well, this one also had frogs on it and it was the exact same texture as your football blanket so of course I bought some of that too. I'm beginning to think I may have a problem! So far the naked frogs are the blankie of choice. Your nightly singing routine has expanded a little. We begin with the traditional Rock-a-bye Baby, then ABCs, followed by Beiber's Baby Baby. Now we've added Jai Ho and conclude with an exciting Thomas the Train piece. I wonder how long you'll request my nightly concerts?? You happened to find that swatch of football blankie today that mommy apparently didn't hide too well. I'll let you hold onto it for awhile as long as I don't catch you putting in your mouth- man did it get stinky!!

I guess that's about it for now. We had fun with grandma, Kelly, Bryce and Kels. Took multiple rides on the gondola. Went to the Penguin Encounter at the aquarium and had a blast sitting with the penguins at our feet. Ghost Writer was quite the trouble maker!! We got to visit the zoo during Zoorasic Park Days (you two weren't big fans of the animatronic dinos.) Daddy's currently on his annual Myrtle Beach trip and the boys and I are just hanging out.