Hello? Hello? Is Anyone There?

Joe loves him some bananas.

I was doing dishes and looked over to him doing this.

So I grabbed the camera and took a picture.
Then I said, "Joe, smile for mama."
He did this.

Then I said, "Joe, a regular smile."

He did this.

I thanked him for being sweet and went back to the dishes and he went back to his banana.
I looked back a few dishes later to find this.

How eats a banana horizontally?

Joseph!

Concentration

Adam has an iPod Touch that our kids love, love, love.

Joe especially likes to "pway on daddy's chuch"

(Its ridiculously cute to hear him say it.)

Joseph gets to concentrating pretty hard.

Out comes the tongue
I'm told that grandpa Hutchinson (Steve's dad) was a tongue-sticker-outer.
I just think its hee-ha-larious!

Yesterday

Yesterday was a truly lovely day.

Sunday it snowed and was wretched, Monday was all melty and soggy but that made

Tuesday all the more wonderful.

After taking Grace to school, Joe wanted to stay outside. I really needed to run but I can't say,

"Sorry kid, no playing outside on the first nice day in forever. I've got to run."

So we cleaned the junk and garbage out the of the van, playing basketball on the patio and spied some bees doing their thing.

Joseph was game for taking pictures of the bees.

Kind of.

He's actually terrified of any and all flying bugs (including house flies).

So I tried getting some pics of the busy bees.

Then Joe wanted a turn.

So after securing the strap around his wrist so he couldn't drop it (breathe Adam, breathe)

I let him at it.

He took a pic of his "skeches"

(his favorite shoes are Sketchers that he refuses to call tennis shoes, only "skeches"

What was left of Sunday's snow.
Me, of course. (In my defense, I was waiting to run that afternoon so why take a shower and get fixed if you still need to run that day.) I spend too many days like this, waiting to run. Like today, but I never got to run b/c I forgot Adam was working OT. I was C-U-T-E!
And this one, which is my favorite of the bunch.
He also took pics of the sky, our snow shovels and the ground.
We had a fun time, just the two of us, hanging out and doing what he wanted to do.
I hope I can remember to do this more often with all my kids.
It was a happy mom day!

Fiddling

"Look, are you just fiddling around with me or what? " says the Man in Black to Fezzik.

Joseph and I aren't fighting to the death but he is definitely "fiddling around with me."

Although, some days I feel like my brain might explode if he doesn't potty train soon so maybe it is a fight to the death! My death! Exploding brain death!

Whenever I bring up the P word he'll have NOTHING to do with it. But every now and again he'll come running into wherever I am and exclaim, "Poop is coming!" So in we go to the bathroom, sit him on the potty, one of the girls usually brings in entertainment (books and cars) and then wait.
He reads, plays, sometimes has juice, chats with his sisters but doesn't get around to actually putting something in the potty.
I know he can do it. The other day he was in the tub and exclaimed, "Poo is coming." I pulled him out of the tub and put him on his potty. A few minutes later . . . ta-da! Poo!
Maybe I'm ready but he's not.
Maybe its too fun with the books and cars.
Maybe I haven't found the right motivation yet.
But maybe, just maybe, he's playing me.
Am I being played?
I just can't decide!


"Look, are you just fiddling around with me or what?" says the Man in Black
"I just want you to feel you're doing well. I hate for people to die embarrassed." replies Fezzik.
Okay, so he's only three. I'm certainly not embarrassed but I am most certainly frustrated.
Do I need to take a deep breath and just relax and let it happen?
Does that mean I'll send him to kindergarten in diapers?
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH" (that's me screaming in tired frustration)

We love Bubble Gum

How do you get cheap bubble gum off skin and out of eye brows?

Not with peanut butter!

Not with ice!

Mostly it took good ol' fashion elbow grease.
And a few Whoppers for a bribe
Remarkably it all came off but Joseph did NOT like being scrubbed on. Adam and I had to double team him to keep him still enough to work on. I'm pretty sure he's going to remember to keep gum IN his mouth from now on.

Normally I would Google such a problem but that night our internet was down. Of course!

p.s Just for the fun of it, I Googled it and that was totally unhelpful. Lots of suggestions for peanut butter and ice. Peanut butter works on hair NOT skin and ice to the forehead for that long won't work for obvious reasons.
Guess it was okay that our internet was down that night.

See, with Halloween right around the corner, aren't you glad you read my blog today?

So Handy

Joseph loves tools. He's convinced the door to the laundry room needs fixin'.

You gotta have glasses to fix properly.

He's concentrating so hard. It's adorable!

And you've got to use the claw end for something.

Required Equipment for "fissin" the door, according to Joe:
glasses

screwdriver

hammer

matchbox car

(matchbox cars are essential for everything Joe does, EVERYTHING)

Not On Speaking Terms

I'm pretty sure that every blogger on the Wasatch Front blogged about the cruel April Fool's trick Mother Nature played on us today. We awoke to driving snow. Sick and wrong!

So, I've decided I'm not speaking to Mother Nature until she's ready to act like an adult. No more of this flipsy flopsy snow two inches in the morning then melt it all before sunset.

I've decided to hol' up in my house and not leave until the REAL SPRING arrives. I'm sure my kids will object but . . . that's what daddy's are for, right? (just kidding, I promise)

So to show Mother Nature my protest I'm NOT blogging about her today. NOPE, not me.

Instead . . .
I spent a good part of the day in the kitchen. Therefore my kids spent the better part of the day in the kitchen. Heaven forbid I should be . . . (gasp) in a different room! Oh, the horror!

Where I am, Joseph is. Where Joseph is, there are cars. Therefore my kitchen was invaded by cars today. Kids and cars. I think, one day, I'll miss finding cars in my cupboards. I love it.

I am loving my kids' stages (for the most part). It would be nice to walk from room to room without feeling like a mama duck leading her ducklings around but that won't last forever.
I was tired today. I was short with the kids a time or two but overall it was a good day. This evening we all snuggled in my bed and watched a movie. I love that my kids like that. Can I subtract one or two little annoying things then freeze my kids just think this forever?

I love my kids and yes, I love matchbox cars.

One awful day last week . . .

One horrid and awful day last week . . . we ran out of raisins.

Joseph wanted raisins but he'd finished them at breakfast.
I am, apparently, a rude and inconsiderate mother for letting our cupboards go bare of raisins.
It caused supreme sadness in our kitchen.
Thankfully Joseph got over it because I still haven't remembered to buy more raisins, and its been . . . gulp . . . a week.
I'll go put that on my grocery list right now.

This is Why We Went Digital

The other night Adam made Orange Julius for our FHE treat. It was a hit with the kids and I love me some Orange Julius. Joseph had a killer OJ mustache going on that I really wanted a picture of. Adam and I took 84,000 pictures to finally get this one.

Want to see some of the 84,000?

I'm pretty sure I heard a yes so here we go.
Is the flash blinding you?

And I wonder sometimes how my child gets so dang sticky? Hum, I wonder.

Close but the extra drool fixin' to drip from the chin is just too much.

Is he putting a hex on us for harassing him with the camera again?

This is the standard 'smile for the camera' smile these days. Cute but just a little creepy. We'll be doing candid shot until he passes this phase.

Anyway, the Orange Julius was fabulous and easy spleasy. I'll be posting the recipe we used and more pics on happyme tomorrow. Don't miss it.

A First for Joe and Blessing #6

Joseph hasn't, yet, been much of a prayer. It could be because his sisters are more than happy to pray whenever asked and are sure to remind us when the other prayed last.
Joe has been saying, "I pay." for months and months now but when it comes to actually saying the words, no.

Last night Adam asked Joseph if he wanted to say prayer. Joe said yes, no shocker. Adam started,"Dear Heavenly Father" and Joseph actually repeated the words. Well, most of them.

Funny thing is, as soon as Joseph said,"Men" Ella and Grace jumped up and showered him with hugs, kisses and "good jobs." Joseph was excited about praying but the girls were crazy excited.

It was one of those warm and fuzzy parent moments for us.
I love those!

Multi-tasking at its finest

DISCLAIMER

Though poop is mentioned in this post, this is a picture of Joseph after eating a chocolate donut. Promise!

When a child reaches a certain age, as a parent you start to relax about the possibility of a blowout diaper. I thought Joseph had reached that age yet he's blown out the back of his diaper TWICE this past week. TWICE.

The last one happened at bed time, in a brand new diaper, of course. I got him all cleaned up and changed then put him in bed and started in with a bedtime story and song. For some reason, in the middle of singing I Am A Child of God to the kids I thought I'd text Adam about the blow out. I don't know why then, I just did.

I quickly typed this text,

"God pooped out his diaper again."

The moral of the story is: Don't text and sing bedtime songs. Better yet, don't text during bedtime story and song at all. DUH!

Not Buying It

Joseph is trying really hard to cut nap time out of his day. Same days I will put him down for a nap and he never falls asleep. He'll play in his bed for over an hour. He plays with his socks, his toes, the pictures on his blankets and the matchbox size car or two that he always sleeps with.

Most days he fights nap time with lots of screaming and crying.

On the days that, for one reason or another, he doesn't actually sleep at nap time this has been know to happen. Not everyday, maybe once a week. Yah, go ahead, tell me " Not tie, mama. Not tie." I'm not buying it.

Faux Happy

Joseph was in major need of a trim/cut. We have yet to find a hair style that works for his crazy hair.

Despite the pictures, Joe cries through haircuts. I'll admit it, I bribe him with candy.
I tried to just trim up the back and sides but all his squirming was too much for my very amatuer skills. I ended up having to take the whole thing down.
I always have a hard time getting used to Joe with a buzz. But what else can we do with his super straight "Kevin Bacon" hair?

btw, these pics are old enough that Joe needs a trim AGAIN. I'll try "just a trim" again and see how I do.

Fire Trucks, kind of!

Joseph loves trucks. He started calling them "sucks" months ago and that was pretty stinkin' cute.
Joe has taken the cuteness to a whole new level.

Joe especially likes fire trucks. They started as "fire trucks", then changed to "fire sucks" and now he, affectionately, calls them "fire f**ks".
Yes, in stores he sees a fire truck and runs across the large aisle yelling it in a really excited two year old voice.

The "terrible twos" may be terrible sometimes but funny sometimes too.

BTW, I totally blame Adam. Apparently, two year old Adam said "fire f**k" too.

Reading already?

NO, certainly not, but I made you look! Joseph, though not reading, has found a new interest in books lately. Why exactly he found the dicitonary interesting this day I do not know but he was fascinated.

And when he "finished" the dictionary he moved on to the thesaurus. He wanted Adam to read it to him. So Adam did and Joe sat and listen for a remarkably long time.
These are Joseph's favorite books, the "Junior" series written by Dave Ramsey. I highly recommend them.
Joseph, though still loving to threw temper tantrums, is starting to play much better independently. Just Joe and I were home alone for several hours today and he entertained himself nearly the whole time. I was surprised. Surprised for two reasons: one, that Joe played so well by himself and two, surprised that I was just a little disappointed he didn't want me to play too. My baby is getting so big and grown!

Never Assume

Think back to where/when you learned how to eat a whole apple? Think hard.
Remember? Me neither, I haven't a clue.
Somehow, somewhere I've failed my son. This is the apple remnant I found yesterday. It takes Joseph about an hour to complete this takes. How do I explain to Joe that we don't eat apple cores? Who said we don't? Why don't we? Because its hard and prickly? That obviously doesn't bother him so maybe I should just leave well enough alone.
I shake my head and chuckle to myself each time I find one of these. Yes, I think I'll leave this one well enough alone.

Bob the Builder Boy

Joseph is kind of into Bob the Builder these days. He got a Bob book for his birthday (thank you GG and Pop), these pj's recently got unpacked with the winter clothes (thank you Moses) and I recently found these house shoes for $1.50 (thank you Kid to Kid). This all adds up to one cute Bob the Builder boy.

I asked Joe yesterday, "Joe, are you a Bob the Builder boy?" Joseph emphatically nodded his head yes and said, "Yah, Bob boy." in his deep little man voice.

I love seeing him in his miniature man clothes and these house shoes playing cars on the couch. Our couch is, apparently, the best place to play cars. Joe will line up all his matchbox cars on one end of the sectional then one by one "drive" them to the other end and line them up there. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, endlessly! He loves it and what makes him happy, makes me happy.

Snuggled Up

Joseph is old enough that if we are really busy one day and he doesn't get a nap, he's fine. But most days, he naps.
On this day we had been out all morning and clear though his nap time. About mid afternoon he went and got his pacifier and brought it to Adam. Adam asked him if he was tired and Joe gave a pitiful nod.
Joseph loves to snuggle up on Adam's stomach and tuck his arms and legs under. Joe was asleep almost immediately. Consequently, so was Adam.
I was gone for two minutes and returned to find my two handsome men napping together. I know Joseph will outgrow this. When he's 12 it might be weird but for now Adam and I are loving it.

Happy Birthday Joseph

Adam has, again, proven himself in the birthday cake arena. He came up with the idea, cut it out, iced it and decorated it with lots of "help" from the kids. Our big two year old boy loves all the normal boy stuff: cars, trucks, balls, "goss" bugs, animals and trains. He also like his sisters' stuff: lip gloss, lotion, dress-up shoes, baby dolls and strollers.
The family got together at Grandma and Grandpa's house on Sunday to celebrate. The weather was so beautiful we did cake and presents in the back yard.
Ella and Grace approved.
Joseph was in heaven. Shirtless and shoeless, outside, on a bike and with a belly full of cake and ice cream. We hadn't even opened presents yet!
Joseph loves his new toys.
Joseph Adam loves his daddy and Adam adores his little man. Our family just couldn't be complete without Joseph's fun personality. Joe is a blast to have around the house, plays well with both girls and is just happy to be here. We are so thankful Heavenly Father sent him to our family. We love you, Joseph!