Patrick at 2 1/2 yrs.

Patrick,

Today you turned 2 1/2 years old.  You keep growing so quickly, I wish you would slow down!  At the same time, it's so fun watching you grow and change.

What would we do without you, bud?  You keep life exciting, frustrating, happy, and crazy.  Mostly, happy. :)   I love watching how good you are with your brother(except when he takes your cars), I love watching how good you are to other little kids and I love seeing how much love you have for your aunts, uncles, grandparents, and your parents.  I can't get enough of hearing those words, "I luh you, mama."  Every morning I walk into your bedroom and you say, "Oh hi!  Guh mornin mama!"

We took you to McDonalds the other day and my heart burst with pride as you played with the other kids and were so kind.  A little boy was hiding under the slide and you climbed under with him and said, "you okay?  you need help?"  And from that moment on, you two were best buds for the rest of the time we were there.  A little bit later you saw a little girl crying and you went up to her, hugged her, and said, "you want mommy?  what matter?"  She started playing with you as well and you would hold out your hand to help her up the steps or over little obstacles. Aiden was trying to play in the baby section, and you kept coming over to him to make sure he was ok.  Moments like those make me so proud of you.  Yesterday I read a story to you about a little baby elephant whose mom leaves him for a little bit and you started crying for the baby elephant.  I was surprised that you understood so much of the story but I was more surprised that you had so much care for what happened to the baby elephant.  It was a moment that I got to see just how tender and caring you are.  I hope you never lose that sweet spirit that you have.

Keeping it real here, as I'm typing this post you just tried taking the Mater truck from Aiden, causing Aiden to fall and hit his head on the kitchen floor.  You are definitely protective of your toys and have a habit of pushing Aiden over when he's trying to get in the way of what you want.  Each day consists of a little crying from Aiden as you try to steal whatever toy he's playing with because for some reason, the toys that someone else is playing with are always more fun than the toys you're playing with.  However, on the upside, you are so quick to say you're sorry and give a hug.  We're just working on skipping the violent part before the hug comes. ;)

You're vocabulary is increasing all of the time.  You're always speaking in sentences but more and more of them are becoming clear.  You sometimes have your own language and add words into the phrases but you're getting there.  A lot of times, your sentences will sound something like this; "hey mom, me ma wants a me ma play with a ma truck!" Meaning, "hey mom, I want to play with a truck!  Or, "I want a me ma blankie!"  Meaning, "I want my blankie!"  I don't know where you got it from but you love using me and ma as filler words.  We're working on it.  One of your favorite phrases to say is, "Sure, mama!"  Conversations go like this a lot:
                                 Me: "Hey Patrick, do you want some food?"
                                 Patrick: "Yeah, sure."
                                 Me: "Do you want a sandwich?"
                                 Patrick: "Sure, mama.  Sure, sure, sure, sure"
I don't know what it is about the word, sure, but you really love it.
                                   
As far as counting goes, you can count up to ten and have done it all by yourself before but rarely does that happen.  Usually you just count up to three and then want someone else to count with you.  I think your counting skills come from counting so many cars over and over again.  Mom is almost as obsessed with keeping track of them as you are. 

By far, your favorite toys are cars and play doh.  Preferably you play with the two together.

You also love reading books, playing in the bath, playing in the snow, going to the park, wrestling, watching movies and jumping on anything you can...usually your bed.  

This week we started the potty training thing for the third time and I think we're finally ready.  You're more ready and just as importantly, if not more so, mom is also more ready.  Today you went on the toilet without any coaxing from anyone.  We're crossing our fingers that the process keeps going well.  It's time. ;)  

Patrick, bud, you mean the world to us.  You keep mommy and daddy on our toes and sometimes we lose patience and forget that you're only 2 but you are incredibly patient with us.  We love you.  We love your endless hugs and "I luh yous."  You're in the phase where you like to try to push boundaries but I wouldn't change a thing about you.  You add so much to our family that would be impossible to replace.  We love you, bud.

Mom and Dad

Aiden at 10 months

Aiden,

Today you turned 10 months, little man!  Where does time go?  Today I was thinking about how I only have a couple months to start thinking about/planning your birthday party.  You're still my little baby so I don't even want to think about that yet.

This month you said your first word.  I was rooting for you to say mama and we all know I tried to encourage you into saying it but dada came out first.  It was about a week ago when daddy walked in the room for bedtime and you excitedly said, dada!  Daddy was so proud. :)  The last couple of days, mama has come out more often but usually it's because you're upset over wanting some food.  At least you still associate me with food. :)

You're walking along furniture like a pro but haven't gotten the desire to walk out on your own.  You have a walker that you like to push around for a little bit but you're quite content to just crawl around for now.  Mommy is more than ok with that.  No need for you to grow up faster than you have to.

You still eat food like it's the greatest thing ever and the only thing I can think of that you really haven't liked is horseradish.  Sorry to put you through the torture of trying it, but we were curious if you'd eat, literally, anything.  Not quite, but you're pretty darn close.

You're still pretty easy going and love to play with whatever your brother is playing with.  If Patrick isn't around, you favor blocks, legos or stuffed animals.  You love to take blocks, or anything hard, over to the kitchen floor and throw it down just to hear the noise.  You're content to play by yourself but you get over-the-top happy when someone is paying attention and playing with you.  I guess dumping things out of buckets is pretty great, too.

This month you finally through broke two bottom teeth!  I haven't been able to get a picture where you can see them clearly but you're pretty cute with those little teeth.

You love to throw your head back and forward while saying ahhhh-booo!  Sometimes it's more like ahhhh-buh but either way, it's adorable.

Jon took this picture this morning during Aiden's first nap

We love you little man.  We love your sweet spirit.  We love your constant smiles and laughter.  We love all of your slobbery kisses.
Happy 10 months!

Done

Humor me for a moment while I contemplate over the last few years.  6 years ago Jon returned home from his mission to the Dominican Republic.  5ish years ago he re-started school back at BYUI and soon after that, he married me.  Over those last 5 years of school, we have acquired 2 dogs, worked 1, 2 and 3 jobs at a time while going to school full time, bought our first car, moved into the first place we could call ours, had 2 adorable little boys, neglected friendships, built relationships, painfully watched my father battle cancer and cried more times than we can count because of the challenging journey we're on called life.  We're tired.  More like, exhausted.  But we're done...for now.
I am so grateful that we can say goodbye to the chapter we call, "the college years."  How nice it will be to not say the words, "do you have a lot of homework and work tonight?  I guess I'll see you around bedtime, then."
To be honest, there were a lot of times we wondered if it was worth it.  For some, college life is great but for others it's a challenge.  I enjoyed college but I was single.  Supporting a family and going to school is soo much harder and even though we wanted to quit, I am so glad Jon didn't.  He knew getting a degree would be good for our family.  Education is important and we want our children to know that we think it is important.  All of those years of sleepless nights and all of those hours of studying set Jon up to do jobs that he loves.  I'm so grateful for that.
I'm grateful that I was able to see our little family get stronger, despite the challenges around us.  I'm grateful that I could fall deeper in love with my husband as I saw him struggle under all of the pressures he was under and rise to the occasion.  I love knowing that no matter how busy he gets, family is still the most important thing to him, by far, without question.  There were many nights he had an overwhelming homework/work load to do and he'd push it aside to listen to me cry...and then he'd stay awake till all hours of the night finishing what he needed to.  I'm pretty happy I get to be his partner in life.
Challenging times have a way of showing us just how strong and capable we are and I hope that's the lesson we learned over these last few years.  We're stronger than we thought we were.

2013 wasn't perfect but we were blessed.  It brought Aiden to us which was definitely a highlight of the year.  It also brought a new job, my first triathlon, races, camping, a 2nd birthday for Patrick, graduation and lots of other experiences that I am grateful for.  I feel like 2014 is going to be a good year for us.  I hope it will be.  I've come to learn that you can't rely on anything happening how you plan it, but we do have a long bucket list of things we want to accomplish.  Either way, I'm happy to have loved ones by me, including these cute boys.

Happy New Year.  Here's to hoping 2014 is a good year for everyone. :)

Aiden,

I have a half written post about how your dad finished college this last month and a post to write about New Years and highlights of this past year but for now, I just want to write a post about how much you are loved.  Hopefully you and Patrick will look back on these little notes, someday, and see just how much you are adored by your family.  Aiden, I don't know how else to put it.  I adore you and your sweet spirit.  You've been pretty sick these last couple of days, little man, and it breaks my heart.  You are so miserable yet you, somehow, manage to stay in good spirits and give your mom those adorable smiles that make me happier than I can express.  You have been our biggest gift this year and I don't know what we would do if you and your brother weren't apart of our lives.  I think I need you more than you need me.  You remind me of everything good in this life.  Trials have tested our family over the past couple of years but you remind me that there's so much to be thankful for.  You remind me that there's a bigger plan.  At the risk of sounding cheesy, you radiate goodness and brought with you a little piece of heaven when you were born.  I love you forever, little man.
Love,
Mom