Unbirthday Party and other pictures

My dad got into town last night for his annual brothers ski trip(he is the oldest of 6 boys) Emily and I still hadn't given him his birthday presents so we thought it would be fun to throw him a surprise belated birthday party. He and his brother David and flown into SLC at the same time and their birthdays are just about two weeks apart (they are only 1 year and two weeks apart, YIKES! I can't even imagine having kids that close). Anyway we decided to throw the party for David too. David has a bunch of kids that live in Utah county but unfortunately only Candice could come (she happened to be visiting too) WE had a fun party. The funniest part was the gifts that Emily and I gave my dad. I had an Anson Call family book that he had let me borrow a few years ago and I wrapped it up and gave it back to him. Emily had one of his Monte Blanc pens from their Cancun trip that she gave back to him. He is so hard to shop for. We figured the best presents are borrowing his stuff and then giving it back. Good thing I'm going to AZ in March that way I can get something to give him for father's day :)

So when my parents went to Oprah they bought me these cute jammies. I love them. I just realized I have a little obsession with jammies. I hate going to sleep without my jammies matching and I really don't know how many pairs I have. I am always happy to add to the collection. thank you Mom and Dad

I also bought my first crib. I love it. I even set it up all myself. Way to go Me. Here is a picture of my darling boys in it. Ryan really wanted to be in the picture and how could I refuse?

Here is Andrew in our new high chair. I am in love with this too. I had a high chair for Ethan that I loved other than the cotton cover which was totally nasty by the time Jake was using it. I bought a new cover that never quite fit. I borrowed a high chair from a friend for Ryan and now I have bought this. Best thing is this chair folds up for storage!

And in case you were wondering how many times I mopped my floor this morning, it was twice. I found Ryan like this after I finished nursing Andrew. I put him in the bath and cleaned the floor. Then I got Andrew dressed and apparently there was still about 1/2 of nesquick in the container that I had left on the counter so once again while I was in the other room Ryan had dumped the rest out. I only took pictures of the first time. I wasn't as chipper the second time.

Valentine's Day Part 2

For some reason yesterday I couldn't get these pictures off my camera so here they are. Mark came home while I was cleaning the house and brought me all these flowers. He said there was a dozen from each of my boys. Wow! 5 Dozen roses. It was such a fun surprise.

Mark also got 4 boxes of chocolates. Love the day after Valentines' Sales!

Valentine's Day Part 1

Here is a picture of me and our new traditional Valentines' Trifle. My mom makes this every year on Christmas eve and I thought I would start making it on Valentines. It turned out pretty good. I love starting traditions. Andrew got this Valentine from my parents. He fell asleep while holding it. Too cute!

Jake's invention and Ryan's find

I have been giving Jake one of my burp cloths for a "nose wipey" He uses it to wipe his constantly runny nose. One day he told me he had a great idea. He wanted me to sew a hole in it and then attach one of Andrew's binkie holders to it so he could pin it to his shirt and then when he went to his friends house he would always have his "nose wipey". I put a button hole in this on Saturday. Jake was so excited. He actually wore it all day and even wiped his nose when he didn't need to just to practice. I just had to take a picture to document this funny little guy. Ryan found this binkie this morning. I am not really sure where it came from but he brought it to me and said "mines" I told him sure he could have it and he immediately put it in his mouth. What a goofy kid. I don't think he has used a binkie in over a year.

Mark's Boys

Need I say more?

and I just had to put one up of little Andrew, He's soo sweet :)

What have we been up to lately

Well I know I have neglected this blog for a while so here are a few of the things I have gotten in photos that we have done lately.

First: Ryan got stitches I was actually in the other room and came out when he was crying and blood was dripping everywhere so here is what I think happened.
Ryan and Jake were coloring with markers (skinny crayola ones) at the table. Ryan most likely was bugging Jake (which is typical) and then Jake pushed Ryan off the chair while Ryan was holding a marker and he landed on the lid of the marker. WE (Mark and I) thought we could super glue it together. So Mark held Ryan (which he wasn't very still) while I tried to glue. I ended up gluing Mark's hands to Ryan's head and then we realized how deep it was. I took him to the doctor and they stitched him up. He actually was running around the house and broke one of his stitches before we got to get them out. Ryan is all healed now with a little scab in place of the stitches.

Second: Jake and I built a snowman

I felt this was a true act of love and service on my behalf since I hate snow. The whole time I was rolling these balls I kept thinking to myself. Where is the fun in being cold and rolling heavy balls of snow to stack on top of each other. I did it and Jake was happy. Sad note. After all that work, Jake went to put a rattle on his face for the mouth and knocked his head off. I told him I wasn't going to go out and fix it. I guess I had had enough love and service out in the snow.

Third: Ethan got ready with a little inspiration from his backpack.

I let Ethan go to school trying to dress like Bakugan. He insisted on wearing his church shoes because Bakugan has black shoes. I thought he looked so silly I had to take a picture and then I put him on the bus. ( the above picture is Bakugan and below is Ethan's version of Bakugan)

Fourth: I got a new sewing table and the box was a big hit.

One of the favorites it became a stage. Ethan set up all these chairs in his room and put on a concert for me and Mark. What a cutie!

Fifth: Andrew is now 5 months old.

He is officially wearing 6-9 month clothes. He weighs 16lbs. He is such a doll. We love him. Thank you Lee Ann for this darling outfit!

True Love

So my dad has the same birthday as Oprah, day and year, he found out that she was doing some birthday show and if you had the same birthday to write in. My dad did and now he and my mom are going to the show next week. My dad doesn't even like Oprah but my mom has watched her for years. I just thought this was so thoughtful of my dad. My mom has been smiling ever since she got the call. She said Oprah Winfrey's name was on her caller id. She doesn't want to take it off. Happy Birthday Dad and Oprah on January 29!