My (girl) baby

She wasnt' hurt, but once she saw Anthon's cool bandage, she had to have one too!

My (first) baby

We were playing in the backyard the other day and Kirk was pretending Anthon was a football and kind of threw him a little, but when Anthon landed, he rolled his ankle. I think he might have sprained it a little because it's been over a week and he still limps on it, even when he doesn't know I'm watching. He was pretty upset about it at first (so was Kirk, poor guy!), but when I pulled out the tensor bandaged and put my athletic training skills to work, he got over it pretty fast. He thought he was so cool to wrap it up with ice and rest it (R-I-C-E it, Mom!) He kept coming up to me to remind me to wrap it, or put ice on it. It was really cute.

I love these boys! And I hope they'll grow up close. There's nothing in the world quite like a brother.

My baby

I went in to check on Tanner a couple of days ago and found him just chillin in my bed, takin' a nap.

His hair was getting kind of long so I cut it the other day when I cut Anthon's.  I almost cried when I realized I'd cut all the silky soft baby hair off and now he has tougher little boy hair. 

Sometimes I want to live forever in a particular moment and would just love to freeze time and never let Tanner get old.  But then I think of how that would completely epitomize being damned.  He wouldn't be able to progress in any way because of my selfishness.

As much as I want to be able to cuddle him and kiss those sweet chubby cheeks forever, I want even more for him to grow, and learn, and experience all that life has to offer--the bad times along with the good. I know there is wisdom in God's plan for me and my family and I try to remember that when I'm cuddling with him in bed at night trying so hard to soak in his sweetness while I can.

I love this little guy! He has such a sweet, content, happy personality. He has brought so much joy to me as a mother, and such a happy dynamic to our family. We love you little buddy!

Happy Easter!

Anthon's been having trouble keeping his eyes open in pictures lately, so here he is keeping them open. So cute.We had a great Easter.

We had a little devotional type thing every morning (or, night, depending on how succesfful I was at not hitting the snooze button that day) where we talked about some of the events in the Savior's last week, read scriptures, etc. It was really neet to teach my kids about the atonement in such a specific and detailed way.

We also did some kind of activity everyday, like dye easter eggs, have an easter egg hunt with friends, make a craft, etc. We did a Christian Sedar Friday night, or a very simplified version of it. Daddy taught us about passover and Christ as the sacrificial lamb. I'm so looking forward to when the kids get older and we can talk about all the symbolism. Saturday was or commercial celebration where they had to follow clues to find their baskets, watched conference, and we did our Easter ham dinner then. Sunday we just relaxed, tried to fly our kite, watched conference and then had a "Jesus Dinner," or ate things that Jesus might have eaten, like fish, unleavened bread, olives, figs, hummus, etc. It was neat.

I think a lot of what we did went right over Erilyn's head, but Anthon really soaked it in. I'm really looking forward to building on this tradition and using Easter as a tool to teach our kids about the richness of the symbolism in the Gospel and the power of the atonement. It was a beautiful holiday. Happy Easter!

Our Jesus Dinner.

Unsuccessfully trying to fly a kite.

Erilyn got hers up for a bit before it broke. She loved every minute--er...second--of it!

Easter Egg Hunt with Friends

Anthon and his best friend in the world. Jacob.

I love those toothless grins!

Erilyn and her best friend, Jessica.

The Circus!

You'll just have to take my word for it, but the circus arena is behind us:)

This was definitely the highlight of Erilyn's whole night...probably of her whole life. You can't really tell, because she shows emotion about as much as Kirk does, but she was thrilled.

Anthon was very unselfish, and gave up his only ticket, and therefore the chance for him to do any of the fun extra things for himself, just so Erilyn would have enough to ride the pony. It was a beautiful gesture. And he learned that being unselfish brings you joy as well because it made him feel so good to make Erilyn so happy. What a sweet brother.

My kids

I really like my kids.  I love them.  I adore them.  I thank God every day that I get to be their mother.  Yes, even days when I want to pull my hair out.  All it takes is to peek in on them when they're sleeping (their most angelic state, I'll admit) to forget all the tantrums, the waking up at night and whatever else it was that day, to remember how deeply I love them.  I hope some day they will get to experience this same kind of love.  It's powerful and beautiful and absolutely life changing.

Quick One...

I have some catching up to do, but I wanted to record some of my favorite Erilyn phrases before I forget them:

Here they are, in no particular order:

1. "What you said, Mom?"

2.  "Mom, may I can have a cookie?"

3.  Anything that has an "fl" in it, like butterfly, because she says "thl" instead of "fl."  For example, "Mom!  Look!  Did you see that butterthly?", or, "Mom, birds can thly.  I wish I could thly like a bird.", or, "Sorry, Mom.  I accident spilled my yogurt on the thloor.", or "Mom, I love my new thlip thlops!"

4.  "Merry Christrum!"

I never let Kirk correct her because I think it's adorable and it will be all too soon when she figures it out for herself, and then what will I do?!

Also, one of the great joys of my life (seriously) is watching Erilyn ride her scooter.  I'll try to get a video of it or a picture.  It's adorable.

I love how when she is feeling most herself (meaning, when Anthon is at school and it's just me and her) she sings to herself constantly.  I haven't decided yet whether or not it's because she loves music, (which I already know she does; she especially loves being sung to sleep) or because she's such a social creature (which I also already know about her.  She literally comes to life when she has friends to play with.  It's a remarkable transformation. Not that she's not "alive" when alone at home with me, but she's much quieter, more reserved.  When I play with her, she lights up in the same way.  She just loves and craves company. I'll try to remember that about her.