Noah's Smiles

Super-Speedo-Hulk?

"Happy People Have Froggies"

This title is one of Isaac's great quotes. I am so glad I started family quote book, but nobody ever sees its contents, so I thought I would share some of my favorites accompanied by pictures of the superhero who I frequently claim as my son.

He loves pretending. Thanks, Bob & Tiffany for the AWESOME superhero kit! He also loves his Incredibles pj's and says several times a day "I'm Dash," often correcting us when we call him "Isaac" or "honey."

After checking out some Arnold Lobel books at the library, he started saying, "I'm frog. You're toad. We're friends."

Admiring one of Jared's old action figures, he has said, "He-Man's mad. Is he wearing a diaper?"

Last month he said, "I married in the temple!" When I asked who he married, there was a tiny pause and then: "You!"

I have also heard him playing under the desk while I'm on the computer. He goes to "the store" and then: "jiggity jig. I'm home!" I think pretending is such a fun part of childhood.

Isaac also has a great sense of humor, as most everyone knows. After getting a wayward hashbrown or noodle into his mouth, he congratulates himself, "Way to suck it in!"

Right after my birthday we had a lot of leftover cake, so we covered it to avoid having Isaac get upset each time he saw it and couldn't eat some. Eventually he figured out its hiding place (under a bowl), and he would often climb up to the counter, lift up the bowl and say, "Hello cake, how are you?"

The best example, though, is when he answered a random question of mine with this: "No, don't talk, you don't have a mouth!"

I think he also thinks it's funny to say, "Um, what did I say?" a lot. We're not sure why.

Another time he cracked us up was when he had a sucker in the car and then suddenly I didn't see it. After many repetitions of "where is your candy?" he took his sweet time to say, "Oh, maybe I dropped it..." in a causal air.

He has also been heard to say, "I need to get a life!" and the other night when he was opposed to blessing the food, he interrupted Jared's prayer with "No! It's messing up my life!"

Perhaps we should just stop there. We hope you have enjoyed the latest Quotes by Isaac. Join us next time!

Tender Mercies

I have been meaning to write this for a while, but I think it's still pertinent. For a while, I had been having extra "down" days. It's easy to get stuck in a rut; it happens to us all. But I was thinking this one was extra hard to get out of, and I was feeling particularly alone.
Have your prayers ever sounded like this: "Thanks a lot. Are you listening?" or "A little help would be great about now!" That's how mine were, but it wasn't a humble cry for help; it was definitely prideful.
It took a lot of things to help me out. Those talks after "Music and the Spoken Word seemed to be just for me. There were miracles, too, particularly the one on Easter when Isaac fell off my mother's porch without a single bruise. I was also touched by others' experiences; I realized I wasn't alone.
Eventually it ocurred to me that there were a million ways the Lord was trying to show me that He cares! Wow. I didn't see it until after the fact, but it was like sitting in the dark with a lamp right beside me, if only I would choose to reach out and turn it on (this picture happens to illustrate that, but it's strictly coincidental).

Noah's smiles are a HUGE tender mercy in my life.

So, yes, potty-training is hard. Actually lots of things are hard about having a toddler-- I'm learning to change my parenting with Love & Logic, so I have hope for the future (and that's another story). But look at the blessings! I love my boys. Even if my hair has been thrown into a crummy-looking pony tail and it's obvious I've been crying recently... you can tell that I am happy. Well, I am. It's like M. Russell Ballard said: "the joys of motherhood come in small moments." Live in the moment!


We all have our trials in life. For some of us, it's being a little crazy (that's me); for others, it's having to live with someone who's a little crazy (that's Jared). Whatever our trials are, they are there to strengthen us, and He knows we can do it.
What tender mercies have you been given today?

Letting Go

Last night my wonderful sister, Bobbie, spent the night at my house so I could get up early and go skiing (with my wonderful Mom!). It was perfect. We were there early enough to be the first (well, second) ones in line. I stepped into the bindings on my newly-waxed and tuned skis and...my bindings both broke in half! Weird.

So then we drove across the parking lot to see if they could be fixed. Then I trashed the parts of the bindings that fell off, stuck my skis in the rental shop and paid for some rentals. Sheesh!

Well, it was still perfect. Nobody there, we had the place to ourselves! I haven't been in over a year and my attendance in the ski-bum arena has been steadily declining since my first year of college. But it was like old times again, except now my mom is AMAZING.

I think she has a death wish. She goes screaming down the mountain, and having gone 70 times this year (no lie), I'm sure she has begun to change the way the trees stand.

Anyway, we had a blast.

Why are there no pictures for this post? I'll tell you. I took some pictures with my phone because I forgot the camera. But guess what? I dropped my phone.

I wish that were an April Fools joke. No. I dropped my phone.

We spent at least an hour looking for it in the powder under the ski lift, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

It took a lot out of me to finally let go. Like all things in life except relationships and true principles, that phone was not going to last forever. There comes a time when stuff dies (well, except styrofoam, but who wants to hold on to a piece of styrofoam?).

Just thinking of all the missed calls I'm going to have on that poor phone, lost in the snow up there all alone...maybe I should have a funeral just to get over it.

This was the last picture I sent myself from that phone: Noah's smile. And there were so many other great ones!

If I would have known I'd lose it so tragically, maybe I would have named it...Phannie. Goodbye forever, Phannie!

Our Version of March Madness

Okay, this isn't about basketball (sorry). And it isn't really "madness" unless you count my frequent moments of insanity. But it's kind of a hodgepodge of what life has looked like the past couple of weeks. Noah seems to have three usual looks. Above is his content, yet solemn face. Below is his "I'm gonna cry pretty soon" look. See, Carina? Our boys have something they do well in common already!
The third--my favorite--is an abundance of smiles he gives quite freely except when there's a scary-looking camera around. You have to be sneaky if you want to catch it on film.
Ignore my look here. Isaac still loves Noah. He's an awesome big brother, and getting better.Of course, he also likes to do most everything the baby does. "This is my rattle." "I need to be on that blanket." Etc!
Another hand-me-down from Mom. So cute, but too scratchy on the inside for a baby, I decided.

This is kind of a funny picture, but take a look at those eyes! This is right before we ran the Rex Lee race. Isaac was excited. This time he didn't scream the whole way (I think he thought he was going to actually run last year, so we made it quite clear this year).

All settled in his stroller. Noah's in the back, lying down. I love Phil & Ted's!Jared's cousin, Russell was the only person we knew this year. No, Isaac isn't checking out the contents of his nose; he's showing us the sign for "L." We have discovered that he recognizes the signs for letters better than if he sees them printed. He still knows most of his letters, but it's just way better in sign language for some reason. On my birthday we went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point. The baby animals are appearing and it's really fun for kids to see.
Petting the little calf
Meeting the Texas Longhorn
Looking for baby bunnies around a defensive mama.
In jail with Grandma
"Help! Let me out!"

Dancing with GrandmaChecking out Jacob's Sheep
Riding pony...
and donkey.

We had a great time.

So, even though it's not basketball, it's still fun and there is hope for spring (that's the bottom line). Yesss!

Twenty-Six

If you don't like cheese or corn, you should probably skip this post. I just wanted to write 26 beautiful things about my life:
1- hanging out with my husband (forever!)
2-Isaac's hilarious imagination
3-Noah's baby smiles
4-my parents' love, particularly my mother's sympathy and my father's appreciation
5-friendship and love and support from all of my brothers and sisters/ their families
6-the Gospel of Jesus Christ
7-Music
8-Jared's family (including extended)-- they are all wonderful!
9-Mountains
10-a job to fall back on
11-the opportunity to NOT work a lot
12-sleep, precious sleep
13-Noelle's mission and its effects on my family
14-being able to read and write (the gift of literacy!)
15-forgiveness
16-a jogging stroller which allows me to run!
17-the Savior's example
18-health
19-dear friends
20-my Back to Basics toaster and its ability to make my favorite eggs on toast perfectly!
21-Priesthood blessings from my husband
22-a good park to play at, despite the stresses of life
23-hope for change, and I don't mean Obama-style
24-prayer
25-flan, cheesecakes and other favorite desserts
26-those quiet times when both of my sons are sleeping

That being said, I don't think birthdays should be about the person whose odometer is turning over; it should be about their mother. She's the one who lost insane amounts of sleep (and brain cells) to raise you. We won't even go where the pregancy, labor and delivery take us... Thanks, Mom! I survived another year and you're partly responsible!

Our Fun-Filled Weekend

I know it's been a while, but I thought I should post some of the pictures taken of the weekend of Noah's blessing. Mama Laney is quite the photographer (good thing, because I'm not), so here they are:

Noah finally met his Laney Grandparents.

I love this shot of Noah looking up at this grandpa.

Isaac made himself at home, as usual.

Like any good grandma who's just met her new grandbaby, Dorothy took a picture of Noah whenever she got a chance...even if it happened to be a weird view of the baby's mom!

Saturday morning we went to The Quarry for some good old rock climbing, sort of a late way to celebrate Jared's birthday since he worked on the actual date. If you're a real climber, please don't look too closely! We had a good time, though.

That afternoon was full of lots of errands for us, so the boys spent a lot of time with their grandparents and Uncles Mike and Steve.

Isaac loved his new maracas from Grandma.

Noah, not yet 2 months old, already looking chunky!

This was how Isaac got his nap. It was all over when I tried to move him to the couch so he'd be more comfortable. D'oh!

Jared got some birthday presents and cards and Isaac helped him with most of it...

especially the 'blue pony'!

Sunday night was our last night to just hang out

Isaac relished every moment with Uncle Mike.

Mike got his hair cut.

And Isaac helped!

Those guys loved being here so much, they even sneakily left some shoes so they'd have to come back and say "goodbye" again! It was a good visit, even though it was short.