March so far...

Today is gorgeous and has me thinking about spring cleaning, gardening, yard clean-up, vacations!!! January and February always seem endless, but then March hits and before I know it summer is over and Thurm is going back to school.  January I was exhausted from growing a baby and didn't do a thing but nap and watch movies.  February I felt better, but its February, what do you do in Feb other than hibernate?  March is going great so far!  I finally painted our stairwell that needed to be finished.  I had it all painted except for ONE CORNER! Ridiculous!  As I was finally painting it I tried to think of when I originally started... I think I was pregnant with Jens.  What is it about being pregnant that makes me want to paint?  My best friend made me some quilt tops 6 months ago and all I had to do was find backs, tie them, and bind them. And I finally got those done! Woohoo!

Thurm and I have been talking about the many projects we would like to do on our house this spring/summer:
1. Refinish our wood floors
2. Re-do our bathroom
3. Plant grass in the backyard
4. Build shelves in 3 different spots.
5. Make an adorable nursery for our new baby.
6. Move the boys into the same room, paint, buy bunkbeds, etc.

My mom has said she will take the boys for spring break so we can work on some of these. We have limited funds, so we'll probably only get to do a couple of these, but I can't decided which ones. Our bathroom is the worst and needs it the most, but its a huge undertaking and we have limited skills. And when I say limited, I mean that we have none. We can't do it. We are stupid when it comes to home improvement. I can paint, sloppily. Thurm can hammer, but the nails end up crooked. We can saw, but the board ends up 6 inches short. We are the type of people who should rent, so someone else takes care of the problems.

Thurm has been running again- so far in 2012 he has run a 5k, 10k, 15k, and is training for a 25k in two weeks. And then in April he has the SLC 1/2 marathon.  Historically, he quits running after the 1/2 marathon and doesn't start again till January of the next year.  He's hoping to break tradition this year and keep running.  I have been doing an exercise class four mornings a week. I started in January and am hoping to keep it up through June. Maybe I won't gain the 60 pounds I have gained with my last two babies.

Quinn and Jens have been fighting non-stop the last month over ownership of toys.  One always wants the toy the other has.  They break down into tears. Jens screams like he just broke his arm.  Its pretty exhausting.  I'm getting really good at ignoring my children.  Jens learned how to get out of his crib last month, so now he gets rocked to sleep at nap time.  Spoiled little guy.  But 15 mins of rocking is alot easier than an hour and a half of putting him back in his crib.  Quinn has been into computer games. He can now turn on the computer, launch the internet, and click the bookmark for fisher-price games for toddlers.  He is three and I'm already scared about how well he can use the computer.

First time sledding! They both loved it. Quinn would climb up the hill and go down all by himself.  

Eating icicles.

This is our bunny we got for Christmas.  He lives out in the shed, but daddy brought him in for a few minutes one day.  Jens LOVES the bunny and screams and laughs whenever he sees him.  He doesn't really have a name, but one day Thurm asked Quinn what his name was and Quinn responded "Garden Boy."  Thurm thought it was so hilarious that he keeps calling him that.  

Quinn slept on his bed with waffle crumbs for two nights. He gets up in the middle of the night and scavenges the kitchen for food and brings it to his bed to eat. It makes me so mad that I just left the crumbs and he slept on them.  I'm obviously not raising a "princess and the pea." I could not handle crumbs in my bed. I would rather sleep on the floor.  

Valentines flowers from my thoughtful, sweet husband : ) 

Fruit!  I love eating fruit when I'm pregnant. They are extra flavorful and delicious!  

We gave Quinn an old school MP3 player we had stashed in a drawer. I filled it with 3-year old appropriate music  today and he's been listening non-stop.  I decided it was time to start his musical education, so it has some Beetles, Bob Marly's "Jammin", some Beethoven, Ella Fitzgerald, James Taylor, etc. I wanted to make it well rounded.  He loves music!  

Rumply clothes, but I got a few pictures today to document.  Quinn with his new MP3 player because he loves music. Jens with some stuffed animals because he is CRAZY for stuffed animals right now.  

Brothers- Quinn is 3 1/2 and Jens is 19 1/2 months.  This is going to be a fun summer for us. Quinn turns 4, Jens turns 2 and we will have a new sibling!  

February in Pics

I made a goal this month to take snap shots. I always want my pics to have nice light, good composition, etc. So I miss alot of moments. So I made myself take pics this month regardless of all that.  

Unfortunatly, this isn't a rarity.  I will avoid dishes until we are eating out of tuperware.  

Both my kids love sitting on the counter.  Its one of the few things guaranteed to make Jens stop crying. 

Sharing a Sundae

Eating breakfast.

Jens LOVES these bunnies. I make sure he has them for bedtime and he grabs them, hugs, laughs, kisses, snuggles them.  Its adorable.  

Quinn has gotten into legos.  

He can't seem to keep his clothes on. Ever. 

Daddy and the boys doing INSANITY-an exercise video.

This is the second time Quinn slammed his finger in a door.  Its scary when it first happens because his finger goes absolutely flat.  This is the 2nd day and it looks alot better. Love his sad little face. 

"Hey mom, take a picture of me while I be crazy."

Best looking apple pie I've ever made because I used store bought crusts.  

Thurm after he ran a 10k on Saturday.  

Playing at the park. This winter has been so awesome.  There has been so many nice days. 

Making homemade playdough. Quinn just loved putting the food coloring in. 

January

Man-I'm not doing great at blogging, a post a month.  January has been just what I wanted... a whole lotta nothing.  I have been looking forward to not having anything to do.  Last Sunday I got home from church took an hour and half nap, woke up long enough to go lay by Thurm on the couch, fell asleep for another hour.  One day, the only thing I did besides take care of my children was go on a walk.  I think I have till the end of Feb to enjoy my leisurely schedule and I'm going to soak up every minute.
There has been alot of reading and movie watching going on this month. Thurm has been practicing the piano (he got a keyboard for Christmas) for an hour a night. He has inspired me to practice as well, though I haven't been as faithful.  He makes me so mad though... I had 4-5 years of piano as a child and 6 years of choir. He had a year of piano lessons from his mom and he has almost caught up with me on his piano skills. He is naturally very musical, so I'm not surprised.
Jens has been sick off and on for about a month now. He has had ear infections, throwing up, diarrhea, fevers, etc. Poor kid hasn't been very happy.  But when he is feeling good, he is delightful.  He is so rambunctious and loves when daddy comes home to wrestle and be rowdy.  He is also so sweet and cuddly, one of his favorite things still is to be wrapped in his blanket and cradled.  Jens loves to run. He says "go" and takes off running with Quinn.  That and yelling are those boy's favorite activities.  Jens wakes me up every morning from his crib yelling "mom... mom... mom... mom."  He is still an awesome sleeper---bedtime at 6pm, wakes at 7:30am, takes a nap from 1pm-4pm.
Mr. Quinn is getting sassier, sillier, smarter, and funnier than ever. He loves to tease and say "are you serious?" or "come on!" or "what!?" He has a sense of humor well beyond his years. He is constantly surprising me with how witty he can be.  He came into the room the other day and said "mom, I'm hungry."  Then he opens his palm full of nuts and says "good thing I have these nuts."   Quinn loves to find "Q's" in books, on objects, wherever and say "MOM! Its my letter!!!"  Whenever he hears a song on the radio that he likes, he says "mom is this my song?"  and I say yes : ) One day we heard "Red, red wine" by UB40 and he asked if it was his song. I told him no, it was Uncle Wade's song. That song always reminds me of him, haha.
I somehow got wrapped into a New Years resolution that I had no intention of doing.  My friend and I have exercised 4-5 days a week since Jan 1st.  It just happened so easily-we just started doing it. I wish everything that was good for me, just happened so easily.  Thurm made some lofty New Years goals, and many of them. I had none.
I have a picture of a counter full of dirty dishes to post, but I'm too lazy to go down and get my camera to upload it. Maybe next time. Its a good one, it looks like a picture Dr. Seuss might have drawn. But dishes have become absolutely ridiculous. I don't like doing them, but its gotten out of control.  We ate cereal from tupperware for breakfast, drank from old bike water bottles, and I make our food choices based on if it can be microwaved on a paper plate.  I'm down to doing the dishes about once a week and we don't have enough dishes to quite make it that long.  We are getting a new fridge delivered tomorrow, but I think we bought the wrong appliance.  Next time it will be a dishwasher.

December in Pictures

I found this armoire at the DI for $25.  

I broke a hinge, and I STILL haven't gone to home depot for new ones, so its still missing a door. 

Jens had some SERIOUSLY long hair growing.  But Thurm wanted him to keep it long till Christmas so everyone could see how cute it was. No one said "cute" they all said "whoa, he needs a haircut.  Thurm was disappointed. 

He wasn't a fan of getting his hair cut.  

Christmas!!! We spent Christmas at my parent's house. 

We woke up Christmas morning, opened our stockings, ate breakfast, then went to church. We finished opening presents after church.  Quinn was fun this year. He finally got the idea of presents. He would open one, glance at it and find his next one to open.  

Christmas morning craziness! Everyone in my family was there except my little brother's family. They were missed. 

Quinn & Jens got a bunny. Quinn wasn't too impressed---he's been a little OCD lately about germs and getting dirty. I think thats why he wasn't excited.  

This is what it looked like for a week straight---EVERYONE on some sort of electronic handheld device. iTouch, iPad, Kindle, iPhone. Two thirds of the family got some electronic for Christmas. At one point I walked into the room and I was the ONLY one not staring at a screen.