I love this July

It's been such a fun past few days. My friend Andrea was visiting from the St Louis area with her family -- our boys are fast friends now. Pictures to come.

It was Pioneer Day and my birthday all in the same weekend. It's great to have a birthday around Utah's state holiday, because it really does extend the birthday festivities. Since I'm one of 12 children, I kind of like the attention.

But, now that I'm a mom of 3, I need to give up some of the attention. Max's birthday follows mine, so my birthday is really just an extension of his in his mind. See the cake below? My amazing MIL made it for me, but Max claimed it as his own as well. I guess the crayon candles didn't help. Maybe it was for him, too....

Thank you to my in-laws Seth and Suzanne for making delicious fried chicken, mashed potatoes/gravy and corn on the cob. I never get tired of any variation of that meal. I love it so much.

For my birthday I got cute new shoes and more seasons of the Mary Tyler Moore show on DVD, and got to spend the day with my sweet boys. They slept in until 8 AM for only the second time in their lives. A birthday miracle!

We're walking, we're walking

Oh how I miss the days when I could put a child or both children in the jogging stroller and briskly walk around the park. It's so much harder with three.

To get exercise these days, I put the baby in the front pack or in the stroller, and Max and Benny ride their bikes. Max without training wheels = super fast when he wants to. Benny on the trike is really cute.

The only problem, is that they run out of gas after 2 blocks. Our walk becomes a motivational seminar, with me as head cheerleader and argument-solver.

For example:

Benny slows down to look at a bug.

Me: "C'mon Benny, keep pedaling!" He slowly starts going again.


Max speeds up to the corner. Benny realizes he's been left behind, and starts furiously pedaling along and screeching "MAAAAXXX! WAAAAIIITT! Way-ay-ay-ay-tttt!"

We stop at every corner to let them take turns being the leader down the sidewalk. If not, a breakdown is inevitable with both boys hopping around me trying to get at each other and hollering, "It's MY turn to be the leader!"

(I also make them stop at every corner because I'm paranoid of accidents or kidnappings and make them stay in my sight. Yes, I am that kind of mother.

Sometimes it takes motivation to make it home if we deviate from our normal 2 or 3 block route.

They get tired or thirsty, or scold me for going the wrong way. Or they see mud/sticks/dandelion puffs/a good climbing tree. So I have to keep encouraging them along with my best rah-rah-stay-positive voice. But Benny will even just give up pedaling. If I brought the double jogger, I hook the trike on and let him hop in. If I brought the single stroller Benny plops onto the front near the wheel anyway and I slowly push the new burden along.

The worst though, is when we go past homes that belong to people we know, and the boys want to say hi. If someone isn't outside, the boys want to knock on the door but I often say no. Our walk time is at most people's dinner time, because we eat dinner so early at our house. A couple times Benny has thrown a full-on, loud, crying, sobbing, refuse-to-pedal-any-further tantrum when he can't visit his friends. Then I end up somehow dragging him and the little red trike home.

By the way I just read this post again about a walk when Max was 3 1/2 and I kept giggling at the memory. It seems I'm never destined to be a power-walker with my children in tow!

Buzzed

It's summer haircut time! Before a major shaving off of long hair, we like to give the boys some mohawks. Just for a few minutes.

Max never really likes it.

(For another funny Max grumpy face, see this post from last year. For a cute Benny face, see this post from two years ago).

Max felt better after "all the itchiness" was gone. I hosed them down outside.

Two wheels good, four wheels bad

1) There's a lot of bike riding on TV these days. JB is following the Tour de France, and surprisingly, Max and Ben like to watch too. They pepper him with questions: "Why do they have numbers on their backs?" "Who is that?" "What is that building?" "Who is in that car?" "Why are there so many bikes on top of that car?" "Where are they going again?" "How do they eat?" "Can I have an otterpop?"

2) JB has been kicking bum (this is a family blog) and taking names lately on his bike. He has a new road bike, and recently rode 12 miles uphill to the top of Emmigration Canyon with a group of guys from the neighborhood and our church. They also take weekly rides on trails throughout Salt Lake County.

I'm really proud of his biking prowess (and I love the way he looks). But I can't help but think, doesn't it seem like biking is the thing to do now? I've done a few stories on the radio about new trails, new laws, high bike sales, etc. I also keep hearing about more people I know going for rides or forming riding groups.

I would call it a trend, but trends come and go. I think for JB, biking is here to stay.

(Just be careful out there, honey.)

Eat up!

Is anything getting into his tummy? Good thing the sink is nearby for a hosedown after dinner.

Andrew is still trying to master eating solid food. Correction: I am still trying to help Andrew master eating solid food.

At his 6-month checkup recently, he weighed 18 pounds, 11 ounces, and was 27 inches long. That's 90-something for height I think, but 65th percentile for weight. He has dropped some more. Listen Baby, in our family, we go 100 or we go home!

It is time for him to be eating rice cereal and such, and we do try. He just gags and spits and pushes it out with his tongue. But he did like the applesauce we tried recently. I think I got three spoonfuls down that time. I know he'll get the hang of it soon. They always do.

Mmmmm, cake!

This appeared at my house recently.

I can't be sure, but I believe it's the frozen top tier of our wedding cake.

We had a carrot cake with buttercream frosting that day, almost 8 years ago. Yep, a closer look at the frozen circle did seem to reveal carrot cake. But how? Why?

All I know is there are many freezers in my mother-in-law's house. I also know JB's sister Suzanne has been cleaning out big time as she visits this summer from South Carolina.

No, I didn't try it.

A new nephew!

Congrats to my little brother Michael, now a papa of 3 boys (this makes 6 grandchildren, all boys, for my mom and dad).

Here's the latest sweetheart, born last night:

I think he'll have red hair like Bethany! I love it.