Mullet Madness

This morning I was enjoying my one on one snuggle time with Dallin before Tucker woke up. This was the conversation we had...
Me: I think it's time we cut your hair.
Dallin: Why??
Me: Because it's getting long in the back and starting to look like a mullet!
Dallin: (getting really excited) REALLY??? YAY!! Daddy has a mullet too!!

If I thought that was humorous, when my friend Kylene came over later this afternoon, we were talking about it and come to find out Dallin was referring to Daddy's recent addition to his face...the goatee. A circle one to be exact. hee hee! So apparently, he thinks he's really a big boy and already starting to grow facial hair. I just love that kiddo!

It really feels like Tucker has just evolved into such a big boy overnight. He is changing so quickly. Becoming more and more independent and he will actually listen and follow *most* directions. It sure is making me a little baby crazy, shhh don't tell anyone(especially Cody)!!

I've been working on trying to get Tucker to come out of his "shell" I guess you could call it and become and express his own personality. I've found its a little harder at times with an older brother for him to be heard. He wants people to know he is there and he has a mind of his own! Whenever I try and get him to talk(because I really feel like he wants to and is ready to) his brother just talks over him. I will ask him a question and Dallin instantly answers it before Tucker gets a chance. I've been trying to work with Dallin on taking turns and giving his brother a chance to answer but Dallin also feels like he is being pushed aside and Tucker is the center of attention. Its hard trying to balance the attention and trying to help both boys grow in the different areas they are working on.

I forgot to mention this yesterday, and I'll kick myself for not writing it down. Tucker has been giving me the ultimate "Cody look". I officially noticed it yesterday when I was cleaning him up after lunch. I can't recall exactly what I said but I was being silly and asking for one hand at a time and he stopped, stared, and gave me the one raised eyebrow look. Anyone who knows Cody knows EXACTLY the look I'm talking about. After I thought about it I realized he actually gives it to me a lot!! ha ha!

I am so thankful for my family. I love my little boys so much, don't know what I would do without them in my life now that they are here. They bring both Cody and I so much joy. I am also so very thankful for my sweet hubby. He is so good to me. So patient, understanding, forgiving, and loving. He is one of the hardest workers I know and he never complains!! I'm one lucky lady!!

New laptop

What a fun weekend we had! We were able to spend some time with Mema and Pop( Cody's parents), Dearie and Pappy(Cody's grandparents), Mike, Stephanie, Kadence, Jesse, Rowdy and Chelsea. We awoke to a power outage on Saturday but it was a good opportunity for us to bond more and return to simplicity. His family really is so very resourceful and quick on their feet. His mom was still able to cook a delicious breakfast and lunch and then power returned around late afternoon. Cody woke up right before the power went out (I think around 5:30am or so...) so he could go coyote calling. He was fortunate to get one! He always does and he so enjoys it! It was his birthday weekend after all, so I was really happy he got one. He brought home all four guns from his parents so we now have a total of 6. I feel very safe in my home now!
We had bit of a hiccup on the drive home from Quemado. Our low tire pressure light came on a little outside his parents house so we stopped in Grants to fill it up. While Cody was putting air in it, the valve stem snapped off and shot out, hitting him square in the chest and the tire went completely flat. Good thing is we finally found out spare and got to "test run" it. We drove around Grants trying to find a place to fix it. Long story short, it got fixed and we were able to make it home, safe and sound. Heavenly Father answers prayers and I sure felt bad for skipping church, traveling on the Sabbath, and spending money on the Lord's day.
When we got home, the boys wanted to Skype Grandma and Grandpa. While we were skyping, the computer screen went crazy and froze. We were having problems with it since we got it, so today after work Cody ran to Best Buy and we were able to get a new one. So far this one has run super smoothly so I'm staying optimistic!

Pre-Birthday Weekend

What a busy day!! A few weeks ago, I asked Cody what he wanted to do for his weekend. He has never been really big on birthdays and usually ends up just working. His birthday falls on Sunday this year (Nov. 11- Veteran's Day), and I thought since we hadn't been down to see his parents for a while that it may be nice to make a quick trip to Quemado. Since we left Silver City, we have REALLY missed spending time with Dearie and Pappy( Cody's grandparents) so we called and asked if they might be able to make a trip to Quemado so we could see them the same weekend. We decided since it was only a few weeks before Thanksgiving and we are all planning on doing our own things this year, it might be a nice chance for Mike, Steph and the kids, and Rowdy and Chelsea to come too. We are pretty excited to get the family together, its been a while and we have missed them!!
Anyways, we will be taking off tomorrow afternoon once Cody is off work and coming back Sunday afternoon. I wanted us to do a little celebrating alone just the four of us. So off to the mall this morning the boys and I did trot and we picked up some things for the MAN. We wrapped them up and eagerly waited for Dad to come home. We surprised him with a new jacket, two new pairs of shoes(I married a shoe obsessed guy...), cologne, new socks, and a JUMBO sized bag of sour patch kids(his favorite candy). What he doesn't know(and hopefully doesn't suspect) is he is also getting his "annual knife". I ordered it Monday but it isn't supposed to be here until next Tuesday, so instead of telling him and making him wait, I figured I would be sneaky and make it seem like he just wasn't getting one this year. Hope it all plays out!! He loved all his gifts. He said he wanted to go to the Outback Steakhouse. It was DELICIOUS!!
The boys were hilarious all day long! Dallin sang the happy birthday to my daddy song the whole day. Everyone in the stores thought he was just adorable!! Then tonight I told him he need to tell our waitresses(we had two!) that it was daddy's birthday and he needs to be sung to! He was very persistent and managed to tell every single person passing us! So cute!
I'm still kicking myself for not remembering my  phone and so I didn't get to take a pic of the boys during dinner. Tucker got restless towards the end of the meal and came to sit with me and Dallin. I had been trying to get D to eat his chicken strips all night and little did I know all I had to do was get his younger brother to hand feed him it. Tucker would pick up one strip and SHOVE it in D's face and D would happily eat it and then give T a hug and say, I love my baby. Then Tuck would grab another strip and the cycle would repeat. I sure love my family!!
In the morning I plan on making some chocolate marshmallow cookies, heading to spend some time with a friend of mine, naps, packing, and then hitting the road for a birthday weekend of family fun fun fun! Happy weekend friends!!

Sad day in America

 Well our greatest fear came true last night, Obama was re elected to be President for another 4 years. The majority of this once united, beautiful, country spent the day mourning. But I wont get carried away with political matters, lets focus on those cute kids of mine!!
I woke up feeling a WHOLE lot better, not 100% but at least my head wasn't pounding from all the sinus pressure! I was able to do some cleaning and a few loads of laundry which quickly picked my spirits up. I. Love. A. Clean. House.
Once again, the boys played so nicely together. Here are some pics of the boys playing with some blocks, waiting for daddy to come home from work.

You see how they aren't fighting :)

crazy haired boy

such a silly boy

While I was taking pictures, Tucker sure was all for "cheesing" it up! It helps when Dallin is in the mood. They definitely feed off of each other! It's wonderful when they are being good but when they wanna be rotten....those are the days I can't till bedtime!
I'm also realizing I desperately need to watch what I say around Dallin. He sure is a parrot, loves to copy what you say or repeats stories you tell. One example, my sweet boys frequently wake up with stinky breath. I usually tell Dallin "Eww, you have stinky breath. Go brush your teeth!" Well today I got a small taste of my own medicine. Dallin and I were cuddling after he got up from nap, he leaned over to give me a hug and said, ever so sweetly, "Mom, your breath stinks. Please go brush your teeth." Gotta love an honest child, and at least he asked nicely! hee hee.
Tucker is turning into a daddy's boy again(thank goodness!!) The only sad thing is when he has to leave and can't take the boys with him(work, young men's, etc). Dallin is old enough that he is sad but he will get distracted and move on to something new fairly quickly. Tucker on the other hand...sometimes he will cry or pound on the back door for 5-10 min!! So sad!!
Tucker sure is growing up. He is even at the stage that if I tell him its nap time, go to bed. He will actually LISTEN!!! Love it!! These last couple of nights when we are tucking Dallin into bed, we will tell Tucker to wait for us in his bedroom and he will actually crawl up into his bed and curl up under his covers and wait for us, sometimes falling asleep so quickly he is asleep before we get there! Oh how I wish this stage lasted forever.


Election Day

Today is a BIG day! Its the day our current president(Obama) will hopefully be fired and Mitt Romney will become the new president of the USA! Here's hoping!!
Unfortunately, it was another rough day for me. :( The second I got out of bed I could tell it was going to be another LONG day, I could feel some SERIOUS sinus pressure in my head. Nothing seemed to even touch it. I tried just about EVERYTHING! I'm tempted to just hit the sheets early tonight and hopefully wake up feeling like a new woman with a new president :)
Dallin boy, took good care of me again today. He would come by and ask if my head hurt and ask if he could give me a hug to make it feel all better. IF ONLY!!
Tucker seemed to be feeling a bit better! Didn't have to give him any Tylenol and didn't have to blow his nose nearly as often. And they both seemed to gain back their appetites. YAY!!
My friend Kylene even stopped by this evening with some homemade cookies and a cinnamon type cocoa mix that was absolutely to die for! She told me she was bringing by a pick me up and it sure did! What great friends I have made here in Farmington!!
I pretty much just camped out in the family room on the air mattress. I put on some music after naps and the boys were being so cute. Dallin would take Tucker by his hands and they would dance happily around the room. Sure made my heart happy! I really do hope those two stay good friends!
We have been so blessed. The last two years, Cody's grandparents have given each grandchild half a cow for our Christmas presents! It has really helped us out and we so appreciate them and the yummy grass fed beef! Anyways, Cody's dad called and said that the beef was already cut up and ready to pick up. I have yet to clean out the freezer since we moved here and since we are planning a trip to Quemado this weekend for Cody's birthday, we will most likely be bringing home our meat. I needed to make room for all of it. So while I was organizing and making room in the freezer, I put the baby gate up in Dallin's room so I could see the boys play but so they wouldn't be "helping" as much. I peeked in because they had been awfully quiet for the majority of the time, and they were playing so nicely together!! I even saw Tucker holding my old water baby up to his shoulder and gently patting her back. I love my sweet baby boys!!
Anyways, hopefully tomorrow I will be writing with double good news! Good Night!!

Another one bites the dust...

Well, its official. I've finally joined the land of the sickies! I woke up this morning with a sore throat and SERIOUS sinus pressure. I've been pretty miserable all day. Needless to say, we had another PJ day. Dallin seems to be feeling better. Tucker is super snotty and still pretty whiney. He would have small spurts of energy and he usually was found causing some kind of mischief. For example... this afternoon he managed to climb his way to the top of some boxes to turn the lights on and off. Whatever makes you happy kid, but pretty, pretty please don't fall. You have already done that TWICE today, on the hard tile floor in the kitchen.

 

He definitely keeps me on my toes. But I wouldn't change it for the world!!

Since Dallin was feeling better, he really stepped it up and took really good care of me! He would tell me to lie down when my head would start hurting so bad, I was beginning to feel dizzy and feel like I could possibly pass out at any given moment. Then he would come to me and hold my hand or rub my head and tell me he loves me. How did I get so darn LUCKY?? Cody even checked in on me to make sure I was doing okay and made a drug run for me after work. Not only do I have an amazing spouse and thoughtful babes, but sure awesome friends. Several of them texted me asking if there was anything they could do or get me. Sure makes me grateful for the people in my life!

I'd write more but the Nyquil is starting to kick in so I better call it a night!!



Sickly Sunday

As I was saying last night, we are all starting to get a bit of a cold. The first few days are always the worst. Dallin's started off last week with a fever and achiness and now that the cough is almost under control and he is starting to breathe easier, he is just sleeping a lot(which is WONDERFUL!!!) Unfortunately, today was Tucker's achy day. He was being super clingy and whiny yesterday and this morning, so I definitely saw it coming. Because of the time change, he went down for a nap super early. I began getting ready for church while Cody fed Dallin lunch. I was almost finished( just had to do my hair) when Tucker woke up and was COMPLETELY MISERABLE!! All he wanted to do was be held by daddy and even then he would whimper on and off. You could just see the pain in his eyes so we decided that since Dallin was still coming off his cold and Tucker, Cody, and myself were all at the starting stages of a cold, that we should all just take it easy today and stay home. Both Cody and I had been fasting, so we decided to end our fast early and begin drinking lots of water and take some emergen "C" and decongestants. We gave Tucker some Tylenol and then both boys ended up napping for most of the day. I jumped back into my sweats, curled up in the family room with my hubby and started reading out loud the first book in The Work and the Glory series. Later we were both able to sneak in a small nap. Once Dallin woke up, we decided to blow up the air mattress (since we still don't have a couch in the family room) and watch the movie Secondhand Lions.
Dallin was so cute. Several times throughout the movie he would reach over and hug me and say, "My love you, Mom!!" I love that sweet lil boy!
Since we was planning on going to church, I had already prepared a crockpot dinner earlier this morning and had it waiting in the fridge so I could put it on right before we left for church and it would be ready when we got home. (I always like having a nice warm dinner ready, especially on fast Sundays and especially since we have church so late.) We ended up warming it up early and having it for lunch and dinner. It was a recipe I found on pinterest a few months back and the family loved it, so it has made its way into the rotation. Its called Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti(although I have yet to use spaghetti noodles, in fact today we used bowties...favorite so far). Tonight during dinner, Tucker began having a coughing fit. Dallin turns around and looks at him and says "Cover your mouth Baby!" Then he looks over at Cody and I, and says, " Baby is coughing, he needs to cover his mouth". If that wasn't enough proof I've been hounding him all week, he begins to show us all how to cough in out elbows so we don't spread germs all over our hands. Have I said how much I love this guy yet?!?
All in all, it was a bummer we were all sick, and we were all sad we missed church, but it was a very relaxing Sunday with the best family a gal could ask for!! Hope you all had a SUPER weekend!!

Happy Saturday

I sure do love the weekends!! The boys and I sure do miss their daddy throughout the week, in fact most mornings I'm awaken by Dallin telling me he is MAD at dad because he left him AGAIN. I have to keep reminding him its only for a few hours and its because he is working hard to give us this beautiful house to live in, food on the table, and so many other wonderful luxuries. But for a three year old...he doesn't really care, he just wants to play with his DADDY! I love that both boys look up to their dad. And I'm so thankful their dad just loves them to pieces and will take the time out of everyday no matter how busy he is or how exhausted he may get to play and love on them!
Today we finally had a relaxing morning. Made some triple berry muffins for the boys and then my sweet hubby fried up some potatoes, eggs, bacon and ham. DELISH! Then it was really nice because we didn't have to rush around or do ANYTHING!! We were able to just relax and be with one another! Unfortunately it looks like the nasty cold bug is attacking our family. It took over Dallin first and now its slowly working its way onto Tucker, Cody, and I. Hoping it passes quickly!
Despite all the runny noses, and coughing, the boys are keeping true to their cuteness. Tucker has started to fold his arms when we pray. So STINKIN' cute and he is so proud of himself! He is also starting to dress himself. He will run and get his shoes several times throughout the day, obviously wanting to go to the park or just play outside. He will pull his shirt over his head and guide his arms through the holes and he know willingly steps into his pants...this is a big improvement considering the last few months he wanted to just run around naked and would throw such a HUGE fit every time we try and get him dressed.
Anyone who knows Dallin, knows that he is one serious dancer. It doesn't matter where we are, if he hears a good jam(aka any music at all!!) he drops what ever he is doing and shakes his booty! I love it!! I also love that he has passed down all of his "skills" to his baby brother. It is so much fun having dance offs several times a day, everyday!! These boys sure keep life fun!!!
Since I was up most of the night with the babe, who was having trouble sleeping with his stuffy nose, I'm going to try and hit the sheets semi-early tonight. Tomorrow is the end of daylight savings and I'm really hoping the boys got the memo and let this very tired Mama get the must needed extra hour of sleep. Fingers crossed! Good night!!

My Boys

I've always known that my boys are ridiculously adorable. I've also realized that I do not write down all the cute things they do everyday. I've decided that I want to start recording them so that I wont forget and I can easily go back and embarrass them once they are older. I considered  keeping a separate journal to write them all down in but then I remembered I have this. Its always fun to share all the cute, and sometimes not so cute moments with friends and family. So I hope you enjoy!
Lately, every time I ask Dallin to do something, he either follows up with "Coming Up!" or " Aye Aye Captain". It is super adorable. I sometimes get so caught up with the everyday norm and I'm so lucky to have such cute boys to remind me what's most important in life! Tucker has also started giving lots of "lovin's". In which, he puckers up and makes kissing sounds every time I ask him to say good night or goodbye. I love him!!
Dallin has really developed a LOVE for Mickey Mouse. I'm pretty sure he has watched every episode on Disney(Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), and thankfully its actually a show I can stand.  On one episode, Mickey and his friends sing a song about Peanuts. The first time I heard it I immediately thought they were saying something extremely similar to peanut. Mickey sure knew what he was doing. The other week during Sacrament, Dallin stands on the pew and starts singing "Shake your peanut. Shake, Shake. Shake, Shake." As embarrassing as it was, it was also pretty dang cute. And you should really see his little dance that goes with it. I'll try and post a video of him singing it later but right now I'm exhausted!! Nighty Night!!

MAJOR CATCHUP

I am completely embarrassed that I have fallen so far behind on blogging. So very many big changes have occurred in the past two years such as adding a new addition to the family, moving twice(technically three times), Cody graduating college, and buying a new home just to name a few. Tucker Bradley Green was born on June 30, 2011. He is now almost 18 months old and such a joy to our family. There are so many similarities between him and Dallin, yet a TON of differences. I love that they are both so close in age, I hope they become the best of friends. Cody graduated with his bachelors degree in secondary education majoring in Math in December 2011. He received a teaching position mid year in Carrizozo (near the Ruidoso area), starting before he even graduated. We moved to Nogal, a small town in between Carrizozo and Ruidoso at the end of November. We so enjoyed our time there and made some wonderful friends. Cody was able to get a teaching position up in Farmington NM, up near the Colorado boarder so now we are a bit closer to my family. We moved here in June. We absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it here!!! There is so much to do, especially with the family and kids. There are parks in almost every neighborhood, lots of restaurants, tons more shopping and some of the best friends a gal could ask for! It didn't take us long to realize that this was finally the place for us to settle down and put down roots. We began the search for a home to call our own. After months of searching we finally found the one and closed at the beginning of October 2012. We were able to move in at the end of Sept. We honestly couldn't be happier with the life we have and owe it all to our loving Father in Heaven. My dear sweet husband got me a laptop this evening and I am determined to document the happenings of my wonderful family. So although I must go now, mark my words I will be back...and SOON!!