the monster sleeps

So...in recent months AJ has become attached to his towel. After he takes his bath he wraps up in his towel and the only way to get him into pajamas without bloodshed, ok not that bad but almost, is to promise he can wear his towel over his pj's. Usually it resembles a cape. He wears it to bed and when falls asleep, I hang it back up on his hook in the bathroom. Today was a very busy day and AJ never got a nap. Suffice to say the evening was less than pleasant but at 5:30 he fell asleep next to me on the couch like this, watching Christmas movies with his brothers. I love it. My favorite is the towel over his eyes as he slumped down into oblivion. As I type he has made his way down to a laying position never having awakened and his brothers have just finished their movie and are off to bed. They are so awesome, I love them so much and they are so much fun.

Levi turns 1

So... Levi, my baby, turned one today. It was pretty mellow. Since today was Sunday we went to church as usual and as soon as I walked into the chapel I remembered that we were feeding the missionaries tonight. Luckily I had already made chili and it was in the crockpot at home keeping warm. So for today, he got some regular milk, he doesn't care for it and who can blame him, and a brownie with a candle. We all, including the elders, sang happy birthday to him and then AJ tried to blow out his candle and drooled all over the table, barely missed the brownie. It was pretty gross but very funny. The boys were all tired from being up so late last night at the light parade and so they went to bed right after this. We are having a slightly bigger birthday celebration for him in 2 weeks at the same time as Ryan's family Christmas party. I'm pretty irritated because I don't want his birthday to get forgotten in all of the Christmas hubbub but I guess right now, since he doesn't really know or care anyway, it's no big deal. He is happy with his sweeter than cows milk mommy milk and doesn't care that he is another day older.

THANKFUL FOR MY BLESSINGS

So after my turkey/ham coma wore off I started thinking about all of the things I have to be thankful for. I am thankful for the gospel in my life and for the many people in my life who have been such wonderful influences on me. I am thankful for the atonement and the spirit that gives me the strength to keep going when I have no more of my own. I am thankful for answered prayers. I am thankful for Ryan who gives 150% everyday to provide for us, like now when he is getting ready to go to work an extra shift because hospitals are cuttting back on OT nowadays and he takes whatever he can get. I am thankful for my children that teach me so much everyday and push me to my limit pretty much everyday. I am thankful for the hilarious things they say and their total innocence. I am thankful for their candid comments that keep me honest. I am thankful for my good friends like Melanie who has stood by me for 20 years, can you believe it? She also gave me the best turkey recipe ever, man was it good and juicy! I am thankful for a great thanksgiving that started at 5 am and the good friends, some old and some new that shared it with us. I am thankful for the food we ate and that somehow it was all ready and actually pretty good, on time. I am thankful for my parents who taught me how to be a grown up, most of the time. I am thankful for everyday I wake up to my family. I am thankful to live in a country where I can say what I think and do what I want and for everyman and woman who sacrificed so much so that I could. I am thankful for more blessings than I can possibly list.

AN AFTERNOON IN THE PARK

We had a great day at the park. Levi loves sliding and climbs up and goes down, usually by himself, over and over again. He also loves going down with his brother. Jake of course adores him and takes him down and all over the place. Caleb was busy hamming it up as usual and running all over the park like he'd been locked up in a rubber room for days. AJ was having a blast cruising all over on his trike that he finally rides the right way instead of scooting along. The boys were having so much fun that we ended up staying alot longer than I had initially intended but it was worth it. I'm never sorry when we spend too much time having fun together.

Pasta Maniac

So, just in case you can't tell, Levi LOVES his pasta. He is such a joy, except when he thinks it 's funny to pinch my boob while he is nursing. It really hurts and he just laughs, which by the way, interupts his nursing thereby giving him more pinching time. He is growing up so fast, he'll be a year old in less than a month. He is walking so much now and his personality is becoming just as strong as his legs. The other nght he got up at 3:30 and I, being exhausted, brought him into our bed to nurse. So I'm laying there dozing and nursing and he was wide awake and wanting to play. He woke me up completely by smacking me. He put his top arm behind his body and then flung it forward, like a blasted catapult, and smacked me. He got such a kick out of it that he kept doing it over and over again and laughing like crazy. Like I said, completely awake at 3:30 in the stinking morning and not at all happy about it. Then he went to sleep. Isn't that the way things go. Some days these boys are lucky I love them so much because they drive me crazy! At least there is never a dull moment in our lives.

Veteran's Day trip

We took a trip up to Jerome over the holiday. It's a very touristy town and I was a bit disappointed. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe something a little more in line with the town's history, instead of a bunch of art galleries. The weather was beautiful though, it was chilly and overcast. We found this incredible waterfall at the end of a little street that started out touristy and ended up residential. The neat part about this town is that since it is literally built into the side of a mountain, the whole town is switchbacks. We parked on the bottom street and climbed stairs, similar to these, to get up to the next road and so on. We continued down the highway as it leaves the other end of Jerome and crossed over Mingus mountain. There was snow on the ground at the top. The drive was actually nice except for the idiot driving the corvette that passed us on a blind curve in the switchbacks.

FIRST HAIRCUT

Levi got his first haircut today. I was giving the other 3 boys haircuts before their cousin's baptism on Saturday and I looked at Levi and decided it was time for his. Gone are his curls. I saved some in an envelope for his baby book. He doesn't look like a baby all of the sudden. He looks like a little boy. don't mind the naked butt of AJ in the background. I can't keep pants on him these days. I am trying to explain that it's not summer anymore and getting a bit chilly but he doesn't care. At the time he was busy dumping sand out of his sandbox and into the hole his dumb dog dug. Oh well, what do ya do? At least he keeps his clothes on in public.