April Post

As most of our friends and family know, we haven’t fallen off the face of the earth… Although it seems that Arizona sometimes is another world.

As a catch-up over the course of this last year, we have in a whole been so much happier. I think I (Angela) have been happier which means everyone else is too! Lil’G is basically potty-trained and is talking like a pro. He loves dancing, movies, games, singing, BOOKS!, and playing with his mom and dad (and brother when they get along). He is my strength some weeks. All you need is a hug, a kiss, and an “I love you mom” (while he strokes my hair) to know that I must be doing something right so I must keep-a-going.

This last year I have loved being a mom, friend, wife, sister, daughter, etc. I guess I have a much more positive aspect of my life here in Tucson. I have to admit I am naïve a lot but I feel that because of it I am all the better and I can sleep better at night. I recently got released from my calling as a primary teacher to work as the primary second counselor. I have sharing time this next Sunday and I am a little nervous but I should be alright with sugardoodle.net on my side. I am still teaching preschool to Grant and his friends with other moms and am glad that next week is my last week. I get to do sports for two days. It will either be really chaotic or really fun. I got to have my mom down while Joseph went on a school trip to Chicago. Joseph parents also came down as well as my older sister within 2 months of each other. I enjoyed the company and loved being with family again but I was also happy to get my house and car back in order again. I have learned to miss family a lot and I fear that when the time comes to move we may move even further away from Utah. It seems that those who want to move away, don’t, and those who want to stay have to move. I think that I may be in the latter category but I hope not.

Joseph has had another rough year. But it hasn’t seemed as bad due to the fact that we live closer to campus (I see him lunch/dinner most days) and he knows what corners he can cut. I remember a professor in school saying that during graduate/professional degrees students learn how to retain a lot of information simply by skimming because it is impossible to read/study all the material asked by the professors. I think this is the same only it is constructing building projects. Joseph has definitely learned that during the school year he reads, studies, learns and is criticized but doesn’t seem to feel that he understands it but then when the summer hits, those things once taught come back and he finally understands and is able to apply the principles. So in essence I think he will be a great architect after he consistently gets at least seven hours of sleep every night.

Lil’G is so loving and so willing to talk. He loves books and loves memorizing the books and reciting them to us or to his little brother. He loves his train set and his cars. Lil’G’s favorite movies are still Cars and Cars 2. He has enjoyed going to preschool and is excited to go to his friends’ homes to play.

Beege doesn’t seem like a baby as much anymore. I am so sad about that. He runs, jumps, laughs, dances, draws, and makes the funniest faces (usually a nice scowl). He is a little less learned on the talking area of his life but we feel that Beege simply doesn’t want to talk yet. He does say mama, dada, ball, more, boat, shoe, and he does try to say a word if we ask him to say it. Beege has turned into a stinker though. I think the terrible 2’s are already here but I fear the terrible 3’s with Beege. He just has a temper on him that causes him to tantrum much worse than Lil’G ever did. Joseph and I talk about how we believe that we got it easy with Lil’G and that Beege is going to show us what a real toddler acts like. So needless to say I am not ambitious to start the potty-training road with him.

So run through our funny pictures and hopefully you will laugh at them and their captions. Definitely view the videos. I only put funny videos on so use it as some comic relief in your day. Enjoy!

So this video is like last September so it's old but Beege is totally hilarious as a peek-a-boo ghost.

This one is obviously around Christmas time. I love this seesaw type canister from my aunt that dispenses M&M's. Grant is a little stinker!

 I didn't put Joseph's picture on here in because it would be a little undignified but I'll let you guess who gave Lil'G this idea!

 They still love their trains. Lil'G will let Beege play with it as long as Beege doesn't start playing monster baby.

 Halloween time with all of Lil'G and Beege's friends. Lil'G is Lightening McQueen and Beege (in the back) is a surfer dude.We went to an assisted living center to trick-or-treat for safety. I how I wish I were in Utah.

 On the merry-go-round at Pinnacle Peak (who knew there was one outside of Price!). Beege did not like this ride but settled down once dad held onto him

 This is either his poop face or his grumpy face. It's hard to tell sometimes.

 Proof that Dad does come home to play once in a while.

 Dad thought he was pretty funny. The kids just enjoyed knocking it off his head.

 "Check out these muscles ladies!" Lol, this reminds me of my brother. Not to mention that he is inside the train table. Silly boys

 Proof that it can snow in Tucson. And this was the middle of February.

 Preschool field trip. This day was at The Sonoran Desert Museum. If you are in Tucson totally go, it is worth the cost.

 My cute boy at the zoo (see the tiger).

 Easter-egg hunt with his friends. Lil'G and Beege actually got to go to 3 Easter-egg hunts but this is the only one I took pictures at so, ta-da.

 See I'm not camera shy I just am usually the one taking the pictures. Lil'G showing off his new jet and Beege trying to get away from me.

Here, see if this makes you bounce off the walls.

August Pix

Here are a few pictures of our time in Arizona in our new house that we both have enjoyed since we recently moved.

My cute boys in the tub

Playing in Baby B's Crib. Lil' G asks to go into the "cage." I always knew I had wild animals roaming around my home...

Joseph really wanted to build a sugar cube castle with Lil' G this summer. So Joseph and I built it and Lil' G ate the frosting and the sugar cubes. Needless to say he was bouncing off the walls by the time we were finished.

ummm. catching up

So as you can tell, we have pretty much neglected our blog. Between the hectic semester, moving, and visiting family in Utah we pretty much had a lot going on. I'm not trying to make excuses just merely stating a fact. To give you an update to my summary, Joseph finished his spring semester well. He enjoyed most of his classes and was relieved to have a summer to relax... but don't think that's possible (I'll get to that later). Before the last week of school Joseph had a week off to prepare for finals as well as move the family to a new house. I think most readers who follow our blog have noticed I didn't particularly like our last apartment. Once the month before our lease ended hit, I searched all over for a new place to live. I found a great little house for rent (2 bd, 2ba). So we got the place and we love it. It is closer to campus, it has a washer and dryer (yea!!!) and it is more open and brighter than the apartment.

Shortly after moving I went with the kids to Utah. We all flew (what an experience that was by myself) and stayed up there so I could attend and help out at my sister's lady's tea and then Joseph came up a week later to attend the wedding and do some work for both of our parents.

Birthday at Grandma house

Its a Lighting McQueen Tire Cake

Ctrl C / Ctrl V

 going to school like daddy

We are back home now and trying to get many things accomplished before school starts again. Joseph made a table for Lil' G that acts as both a nice coffee table and a play table that can hide his train set. It is Joseph's pride and joy and Lil' G's favorite toy. Lil' G likes it so much he is protective of it. He does not like to share and those who come to try to play with it get a nice shove. He has had to learn a lot from the experience.

                   

Kids side

Mom and Dad side

Lil' G is still kind of struggling with the whole potty training experience. Looking back, if I did it all over again I wonder if I would have pushed him so hard and let him do it more on his own but he is so laid-back I wonder if he would have ever picked it up before the age of 4 (the less diapers to buy has been nice). Other things I would have done better is to make sure that he is in dry underwear -always. Even if he just pees a teeny-tiny drop, I should have put on new underwear (I believe that cost and time to go to laundromats added to this issue). He is pretty much good whenever he goes when we ask him to we are merely trying to get past the point where he recognizes and TELLS us that he needs to go pee before he pees a tiny bit and then tells us. He seems to do the worst when he is in a place where there is a high amount of distractions. Lil' G really wants to wear underwear but doesn't like to have to leave what he's playing with to do what his body is telling him.

Lil' G is talking so well. He loves to sing and tell us stories and talk to us about what's going on around him and things he imagines. He loves his trains and cars and has to sleep with some sort of motorized vehicle and/or a shovel. Lil' G has really gotten into swimming. We got him some water wings so he is able to move about in the water without our help. Before the water wings he would merely put his hands in the water but now he jumps in. He is such a happy boy and is still somewhat slow to warm-up to people but I take that as a positive for being in a big city.

 first time camping

First time fishing

Baby B has changed so much. After Joseph came up to Price to be with us, Baby B started walking. I couldn't believe how well and how much he was walking! Now he is attempting to run and climb all over the furniture (yea...). Baby B is pretty much into everything he can get into. We have to be careful about not leaving the bathroom door and open because he will wander in there and sometimes play in the toilet (eww). He pretty much likes to follow Lil' G around and do what his older brother does (to Lil' G's dismay, at times). He is similar to Lil' G in some ways but he is definitely his own person. Baby B is still my little screamer sometimes just to scream because he wants more food (5 seconds is too long, apparently, between bites) or because he wants a toys Lil' G won't give him. He is a little manipulator in this manner because he will sit next to Lil' G and cry as though he is hurt. I come and reprimand Lil' G and make him give "back" a toy that was originally Lil' G's and thus help Baby B get something when it wasn't his to begin with. If it wasn't for Joseph peeking at Baby B doing this I would never know, although I suspected something like it was occurring.

"you better run I am going to eat you"

I have been busy trying to beautify my new home and make things fit (all those who know what that's like to move to new place every couple years and try to make furniture and decorations fit). I have been making baby burp-rags for friends in the ward who are having babies. I have also been trying to focus on practicing the piano more so I can be more confident on the instrument.

Joseph has been doing a lot of honey-do's around the house. It seems that a  lot of things have been breaking down lately. On our way back home from Price we hit a deer which caused enough damage to the front-passenger side of the vehicle that we had to get it fixed. One of the few times in life we are grateful to pay insurance. After that my rocking chair broke and Joseph was unable to fix it due to the part that broke. We just recently found a rocking chair at the DI for $15 to replace it with. We found that our love seat was fixed improperly and is broken again and we cannot fix it. We will have to deal with that issue soon. And then just yesterday I was driving and hit something in the road that punctured it. It so happened to be our worst tire that had the least amount of treads, so then we had to get at least two tires and decided to get all four due to riding issues for the vehicle. All of the tires were really in need of replacing but we were trying to put off the inevitable until this moment. Life definitely has unexpected twists, turns and emergencies.

Lil' G described it best saying that the deer is sad

We are enjoying the summer and can wait for school to start but it will be nice to get school over with.