Two

Last week my baby boy turned 2.  Has it really been two years?!  We love our sweet little Luke and wish he could stay cute and little just a little bit longer.  But alas, that can't happen.  Our sweet baby is turning into a full fledged little boy.  He talks a lot.  He always wants to be doing what the other boys are doing.  He wants to be outside all the time, even if he is freezing.  

 He loves to play with toys, especially trucks. That's why for his birthday we made him firetruck cupcakes.  I once had a friend ask me why I spend so much time on birthday cakes.  The biggest reason is that my boys love it.  They may not remember what they got for their birthday but they remember what their birthday cake was.  Luke probably won't remember his birthday this year, but the second reason I spend an unusual amount of time on their cake is because I like making food look pretty and presentable.  More and more I just don't have time for that because it's not really important.  So every once in a while I do something a little fancy.  And while it's kind of hard to not be the control freak I often am when it comes to stuff like this, I let Ben and Jack help because it doesn't have to be perfect.   

While Luke was sleeping we finished up the cupcakes and then tied balloons on his crib, so they would be there when he woke up.

We had a little party with family.  Luke got a toy garbage truck, a monster shirt, a book called Down By the Station, some clothes, and a package of pre-cooked bacon.  He loves bacon.  I will have to write more about it later.  

March is a busy month when it comes to birthdays.  

Ben's birthday cake

A friend of mine, Diana, made this awesome birthday cake for Ben. She started making cakes just a little while ago as a hobby. I think she should open a business. This cake was probably pretty simple for her to do. She told me she makes cakes, but when she showed me pictures I was speechless.

Thanks to Diana for saving the day as I couldn't have even attempted to do something like this right now. Why Sonic the Hedgehog? Once a week Ben gets to play video games with Chad, his favorite game is Sonic.

Birthday

Today is my sweet Ben's birthday. Six years old. He woke me up early this morning because he was so excited. We had plans for his birthday, but had to change them because of Luke's unexpected early arrival. Ben has handled the change in plans well. Thank goodness my sister and niece took him out to lunch.

This morning I woke up as Chad was getting ready to leave for work. Of course I started crying like a baby. Ben asked me why I was sad and when I explained he started crying too. He is like his daddy, a tough guy with a very soft side. I've cried a couple of times now this morning and every time Ben gives me a hug and says, "I know you miss daddy. I do too."

I was able to go to Ben's school and tell all the kids about him. I put together a poster of pictures of him doing all the things he loves to do. I was a little bit worried about going to the school because I am a very emotional mom of a newborn. I thought I might start crying when I talked about Ben, but I kept my composure and didn't start bawling in front of his class. I am sure he appreciates that.

Last week when Ben came to meet Luke at the hospital he sweetly kissed his new brother and then came and sat by me on the bed. He put his arm around me and played with my hair. The day we brought Luke home from the hospital Ben came and sat by me in the La-z-boy and started playing with my hair again. His fingers got caught in a snarl so he asked me if he could brush my hair. He ran to the bathroom, got a brush and very gentle brushed my hair.

Ben is a busy, crazy, rambunctious normal six year old. He loves super heros, sports, riding his bike, driving his brother crazy, video games, board games, wrestling with his daddy, camping, playing in water, and I could go on and on. He has a lot of energy, but he has moments of being very calm, very helpful, and very sweet. I especially love those moments, but I love everything about him.

Birthday Boy

My little Jack turned three today. Three!

Jack is one silly little kid. He loves, loves, loves to make us laugh and smile. Sometimes it drives us crazy because when we are trying to discipline him he just tries to be silly. Most of the time we love it though.

I am so glad Jack is part of our family.

Five

My sweet Ben turned five today. He was very happy and super sweet all day long. It was a pleasant surprise, as I thought he would be a little bratty. I can't recall Jack and him fighting at all. It was a nice day.

At Ben's request we took the train into Salt Lake and met Chad for lunch at Subway. Yes, Ben chose Subway. Him and his cousin Josh are obsessed with Subway.

After lunch we walked over to the glass library (the downtown SL library) and spent a couple of hours there. The boys love to ride the 'great glass' elevator. Sometimes if we are in Salt Lake we will take advantage of the 1/2 of free parking and go inside and ride the elevator up and down a dozen or so times. The boys act like it's an amusement park ride. Kind of silly, but sometimes you just do what you can to entertain children.

And of course, we read books.

In the evening we had dinner with my parents, my sister and her family, and my brother. After dinner, most of the rest of my extended family came over. Ben got everything he wanted and asked for and then some. He is one happy boy. He got a razor scooter, swim goggles, a specific Transformer, bubbles, puzzles, Bendaroos, light-up shoes, a gardening set, and clothes.

He has been talking about his birthday for months and what kind of cake he wanted. Finally he settled on a frog theme, so I made these cupcakes-

and these cake pops-

Lots of them. And last night at midnight they were all staring and me.

My first attempt at cake pops. They are cute, but I don't think they are all that tasty. I've tried other flavors too and didn't much care for them. Oh well, they are just too fun.

Two years

I just got back from painting at the 'pee' house and I can't sleep. Chad allowed me the privelege of taking a nap with Jack today. I loooooooooooove naps. But then I'm up way late.

**In case you were wondering- The 'pee' house no longer smells like pee. Wahoo! The basement still has a little bit of a funky smell, but it's not pee. And the house is almost sixty years old, I think it's allowed to have a little bit of a strange smell. Really it's not bad, I just have a super sensitive nose. When I was pregnant I could have almost been classified as some kind of a superhero with my insane sense of smell.

The house hasn't smelled like pee for about a month now because I painted the last stinky floor with oil based paint. But I wasn't absolutely sure the smell was gone because I'd kind of gotten a little use to it. Disgusting. My aunt and uncle who own dogs came over the other night and sniffed around and let us know they didn't smell dog pee. Wahoo!

Jack's birthday was a week and a half ago and I never wrote about it. I was going to write about it when I took pictures of him, but that hasn't happened yet and I don't know when it will.
I can't believe Jack is two years old. Two. Has it really been two years? I love him to death. He is sweet and silly and loads and loads of fun. He is a little bit of a fireball, but I love it. He is sooo excited about everything. Like hot air balloons, which is why I made this cake for his birthday-


And I leave you with a Jack smile. This is one of the things he does when I ask him to smile for a picture.

Silly boy.