You're Sure It's Not the Terrible Threes...

Rhode can be the sweetest, funniest, cutest, nicest boy alive, he really can. I have to remind myself of that these days...

He has just been a little bit trouble than usual. Sacrament meetings used to be completely bearable and are now almost impossible with me distracted by Asher and Rhode constantly having to be taken out into the hall. When friends are over and someone is crying, these days 90% of the time Rhode is at fault. And every small request is met with a devastatingly sad "I don't want to!" followed by the loss of control of all of his limbs.

Let me tell ya, it's tons of fun.

Of course, now that I think back, last year when I tried to blog about his birthday I was too enraged by his ravioli poking/food color disasters to focus on the good. He isn't nearly as destructive as he was then.... maybe there is hope for four year old Rhode!

All over-exaggerations aside, we had a fun little birthday get together. We celebrated his third birthday on the 13th with a small get together with friends. Our plan is to have family birthdays on odd years and friend birthdays on even years but since we don't actually have family in the area, we usually include our Las Vegas adopted family.

And for providing little on my end, Rhode got hooked up with some great birthday gear.

His favorite from mom and dad was this kid sized tent.

My kids are obsessed with tents. It is exhausting walking through Big 5 or any other outdoor themed store as they cannot help but make their way through every camp set up.

The tent is now set up in his room and has been his bed more often than not for the past week. We will call that one a $6 clearance winner.

My favorite of the day was his new super hero cape courtesy of our friends, the Warrens.

One side, Batman's super sidekick, Rhodeman.

The other side, Rhode's favorite super hero, Spiderman (he can sing the whole theme song even though he has never seen any kind of Spiderman show in his life)

Scarlet got hooked up with a cape of her own.

Supergirl...

And Super Ballerina Girl!

But the overall crowd favorite of the evening was from Grammy (Grandma Peggy's new name, just go with it)... shocker I know.

A 3 hole mini golf set.

As is Nielsen tradition, Rhode also got a bike. While Scarlet had to ditch the pacifier to score a bike, Rhode's habits to break were peeing in his underwear (as discussed previously) and sucking his thumb. Habits aren't completely gone, but significant strides have been made so we went with it. So far neither of our children are naturally inclined to bicycle riding greatness but there are definite signs of improvement. We might actually get to leave the 30 feet we practice on in front of our house someday!

My other son is much more cooperative... but doesn't sleep as well at night as Rhode does so we'll call it a draw there. Asher is officially two months old today. To commemorate, here is a video of his two best tricks.

Okay, they are his only tricks.

No, one of his tricks is not saying ma ma. But it sure gets him in a chatty mood!

Preschool

Scarlet is now an official preschool going girl. It is oh so awesome. Finding her a school to go to was a process and a half. I am so glad it is all over... and I think I get about a month left before I have to start worrying about which kindergarten she will go to. But that's a worry for another day!

Scarlet says things that make me die of giggles inside (trying not to just outright laugh at her) so while I record her first week of school experiences, I will include some fantastic new Scarletisms.

Scarletism #100 After watching the movie Gnomeo and Juliet, my children have been obsessed with gnomes, particularly this gnome

They call him "the naked guy". Scarlet very regularly tells me her dreams are full of funny moments from this almost nude gnome. In particular, the morning of her first day of preschool Rhode was telling me about his dreams when Scarlet interrupted.

"Mom, guess what I dreamed about?" with a suspicious smile on her face.

"Did you dream about the gnome again?"

"Yeah, I had a dream about the naked guy. I always have dreams about naked guys!"

Hilarious and a little risque...

She is going to preschool at Paradise Park Recreation Center. She goes three days a week for two and a half hours. Her teacher's name is Mrs. Moscado.

She had a fantastic first week. She loves everything about school and is annoyed at those darn days in between when she is stuck at home with us.

The rules of preschool also threw us for a little loop. The biggest problem, no open toed shoes are allowed. When you have kids with what we politely refer to as "Flintstone feet" flip flops and sandals are a wonder to behold. But, thanks to a lot of shoe shopping and a lot of luck, one pair has been located. Now she is just limited to all black themed outfits until a similar brown pair can be obtained.

Scarletism #101 "Mom, my teacher taught me all about books! There is the front cover, the back cover and the thigh!"

"The thigh?"

"Yeah!" She then grabs a book to demonstrate. "The front cover, the back cover and the thigh!"

"You mean the spine?"

"Yep, that is what I meant. The thi-spine. Spine. Yeah... I think it was spine."

She gets to be in class with her two best girl pals, Jane and Ellie.

Scarletism #102 "I used to sit between the R and the S on the rug and now I sit between the U and the V," she informed me.

"Was that because you were talking to your friends?"

"Nope, Jane and Ellie were fighting over who got to sit by me. (sigh) I guess everybody just really wants to sit by me!"

Preschool has definitely not affected her brimming self esteem.

Rhode has no idea what to do without her. We get home from running errands and he stares at me. After awhile he gives up on me and starts asking when she will be home... which continues every five minutes until she finally arrives.

Shockingly, Asher has yet to notice her absence. As long as I am around, he seems to be coping without big sister just fine.

Scarletism #103 "Mom! In class today the teacher gave us a chocolate bar and we opened it and it was a solid!"

"It was?"

"Yes! And then we put it in the sun and, guess what? It melted and became a thiquid."

"A thick-quid?"

"Yeah!"

"Or a liquid?"

"Hmm, maybe liquid."

Tomorrow she gets to be the first kid in the class to be the "Star" which means she gets to bring something from show and tell. She is taking the picture of her kissing the dolphin in Mexico and has her whole speech to the class worked out. Oh to be a fly on the wall...

So far I love everything about Scarlet and preschool, except for all of those Scarletisms I am sure I am missing.

Let's Just Do Everything at Once!

We had a fantastic Labor Day weekend. Crazy, busy, jam packed, but definitely fantastic. Our Labor Day weekend included:

1) visits from both sides of our family

2) Asher's blessing

and on a complete side note

3) Jon and my 6th anniversary.

The anniversary received exactly this much attention... by the way, our anniversary is today. Really? Awesome, still love you. Love you too.

The end.

Anniversary celebration, not really our thing. But blessing celebrations, totally got that one done and done well.

Our visitors arrived Friday night and Saturday morning. Our crew included the college kids

Brad and Kylie with extra special guest Breanna Haddican.

Representing Jon's family we have the Marshalls

Oh how we love the Marshalls. The boys in our group spent Saturday golfing and watching the BYU game. The rest of us planned on going out on the town with the remaining crew but instead Cara and I spent the whole morning chatting while our kids were happy just playing together. It was awesome.

Sunday morning, all 16 of us not only managed to get ready for church in our 2 1/2 bathrooms (some even scored a hot shower) but they were also kind enough to be ready 30 minutes early for a photo shoot.

My nieces and nephews are the cutest ever. If I didn't think so well of Cara and Ben's parenting I would totally steal Eden away from them. I thought Scarlet was helpful until I had an 11 year old baby enthusiast with me all weekend. I miss her...

I kind of love this attempt at a family picture. Doesn't it just capture the moment that is getting children to all look at the camera at the same time?

And the moment. Two of three children looking at the camera, I will call that a winner.

We ran out of time (and I kind of forgot) to take pictures of just Asher in his adorable little baby tux but we did get some mom and baby shots.

Rhode wore the same little outfit on his blessing day only he was a little older and a lot fatter. It was a serious "fat guy in a little coat" situation. The suit fit Asher much better.

The blessing was beautiful. I was so excited to have Brad there, it is the first time someone from my side of the family was able to be in the circle.

Sunday also included a delicious (if I may say so myself) meal with our guests and friends.

Our college visitors took off Sunday evening. Turns out they had better Labor day plans than hanging with us... or so they thought. Little did they know we were headed to the most magical place within 30 minute driving distance of Las Vegas.

HOOVER DAM!

How sad it is they missed out on this marvel of mankind making?

And, double feature, check out the new bridge.

Plus who would ever want to miss out on the chance to make some good "dam" jokes?!

Check out this dam picture with this dam adorable little girl?

That is one dam cute chubby baby with his cute sister!

Okay, not my best dam jokes (I had some killer ones that day, had Eden and Hawkins rolling with laughter) but seriously, aren't those some great baby cheeks? My kids are obsessed with little baby Barrett. They keep asking me when Asher will be as fun as their six month old cousin.

"In 5 months," I tell them.

They keep eyeing Asher doubtfully...

The Babes

My kids did a little hat modeling recently to show off a friend's new line of crocheted beanies. The hats are adorable... I am so hoping it cools down enough this winter that they get the chance to wear them. After being forced to sport them for "just five minutes" of picture snapping, each one was red cheeked and dripping sweat.

And, with their latest looks, why not include their latest happenings.

Scarlet has discovered the world of Fancy Nancy. We have been getting the books from the library and she adores them (and now she knows what the word adore means). I like them just about as much as she does. They are actually very fun to read. And I have really enjoyed the vocab lessons. I just glow with pride when my four year old tells me, "Mother, that dinner was delectable! That means yummy, mom."

About a week ago, Scarlet was getting ready for the day and we had the following conversation:

Scarlet - "Mom, I have a great idea. I think I am going to wear my sparkly shirt with my purple skirt. Don't you think that is going to look adorable?"

Mom - "Yup, that will look great."

Scarlet - "And wouldn't it look even more great if I put on my jewelry?"

Mom - "Yes, it probably would"

Scarlet - "And then wouldn't I just look beautiful if I did my hair like Fancy Nancy?"

Mom - "How does Fancy Nancy do her hair?"

Scarlet - after a minute of pondering, "I had better go get the book, mom."

Rhode is the cutest little stinker. His new theory on life is "I want it!"

For example, this morning I came downstairs to find him munching on a few pieces of candy haphazardly left within his reach.

"Rhode, we don't have candy for breakfast!"

"But mom, I wanted it," and kept on munching.

He is also turning into the silent torturer. In our family, we refer to this person as "the Courtney". If there is someone screaming bloody murder or swinging furiously after what seemed like a harmless encounter, Rhode can almost always be found nearby looking as innocent as possible. Now normally, the screamer/hitter is the one who gets punished. But after experiencing "the Courtney" firsthand growing up, I am very aware of the kind of button pushing, poking, name calling, annoying behavior that is going on behind the scenes.

And, last on his stinker list, Rhode has been very good about being independently potty trained lately but he still has a very bad habit of starting to pee in his underwear when he doesn't want to stop what he is doing to find a bathroom. When I find wet underwear sitting in the bathroom, he gets a time out (in theory to take away the time he saved by not going to the bathroom right away) and a warning that boys who pee in their pants don't get big boy bikes for their birthday.

Well he has found a solution to that problem.

"Rhode, are your underwear dry?" Mischievous smile... "my pants are dry!" he adds with a hint of sarcasm.

Since he dresses himself it took me a few days to realize, yeah he has been going commando all week. What better way to avoid wet underwear than not wearing any at all? In his defense, his shorts have been perfectly dry all week.

Oh Asher, I love this boy. He gave me his first wide awake, full faced grin two days ago and I just fell in love with him even more. Dad has earned a couple grins as well but they are still few and far between.

He is generally a very happy and content little guy. We had a few rough days and I think I may have to lay off a few foods... sadly I believe chocolate might be a no for this guy. Tragic.

His aunt Courtney came to meet him last weekend and we had a great time. Having an extra pair of hands around is so very much appreciated!

Aren't those hats so darn cute? I am a big fan of the models as well but I am completely biased.