Sunday cuteness

This is a picture of Harry doing his fish lips. I never taught him to do it, he just started doing it one day all on his own.

When Harry was not busy driving me insane hopping up and down off my lap in Sacrament meeting today in church he was chock full of cuteness. I stuck his thumb in my mouth just for a bit of fun and Harry decided that he could indeed share his thumb with mommy. He kept putting it in my mouth even after the cuteness of the act had worn off for me.

Since the boys have been infants we have been helping them "lead" the church hymns. They thought it was funny and it got a smile out of the people sitting near us. Now Harry is able to do it on his own but he still insists that a parent hold his hand to "lead" the hymns. He takes your hand and puts it on his.


Here is a video of Evan at my parent's house. He is "taking a nap" while playing with an alarm clock that was in my parent's living room.

Sunday cuteness

This week has been pretty boring so I am having a tough time coming up with something cute that the kids did this week. A lot of my time has been me trying not to scream at the boys and keeping my temper firmly in check. They are coming down from the vacation and getting pretty much whatever they wanted while they were at Grandma's house. Another thing that has been driving me nuts is that Evan is on a physical therapy break. His therapist is in Switzerland visiting her family for six weeks. I am fine with the break, they are good for Evan but it leaves me at loose ends as far as my schedule goes. I am just so used to having that in my week that a week with nothing planned is a bit disconcerting. I had a thrilling dream about having a flat tire and watching my husband change it, I think that pretty much sums up my week.

On to the cuteness. Evan is now tall enough that he is too tall to be using the five point harness in his car seat. I finally took it out and he is using the car seat as a booster seat with the regular seat belt. This bothers Evan to no end. All his life he has been buckled into a car seat. He keeps telling me that his car seat is broken now.

Harry loves to wander around the living room with a clear toy box on his head. It is his version of playing peek a boo. He also has this new game with me where I put a pen in my mouth and then will take the other end into his mouth using only his mouth. He also loves it when I spit the pen out.

Sunday cuteness

Oy! This week has been filled with a lot of whining. Harry because of his teeth and Evan..... well I am not entirely sure why he has so many dramatic sobbing fits. Apparently it is very sad and horrible when your own beloved mother wants you to pick up the toys that you have scattered all over the living room.

We have also been fighting vermin in the house. No, I am not calling my kids vermin. We have been having issues with mice. One especially cheeky mouse has been spotted multiple times running around from the kitchen to the closet where the furnace is. That is where we think they are sneaking into the house as it has a ventilation shaft that runs outside. We have managed to trap two cheeky little buggers and are hoping that those two are the only ones that have discovered our house.

Ok now for the cuteness. Both boys love to play on my bed. One of their favorite things to do while on the bed is twirl around while I sing Ring Around the Rosies. They take great joy in collapsing onto the bed, although they generally fall long before I singe the falling part of the song.

Our attempts to nerd up Evan are working. Thanks to Netflix we got out hands on the third season of Dr Who. Evan now asks to watch the Police Box movie. Hee hee!

Sunday cuteness

Evan is finally starting to get into singing time during nursery. It is funny watching him sing and do the actions to the songs while at home. He misses a lot of the words but he is stinking cute any way.

We buy our toilet paper at Costco in massive quantities. Most of it is stored in our upstairs bathroom. Now and then (much to the amusement of the kids) I will toss several rolls down the stairs. Harry had fun taking the wrappers off of the rolls and stacking them after they made their way downstairs. He is such a helpful little boy.

Tags: cuteness, kids, pictures

Sunday cuteness

We decorated our tree on Monday. They boys had a blast but I was too busy with them to get any pictures, sorry. Last year at a work party my husband acquired a Sponge Bob Squarepants ornament. It is hideous, but it is light plastic so I tolerate it because it is no biggie if the boys break it. The other day I saw Evan by the tree admiring the ornament. He exclaimed "Cheese!" and then put it in his mouth so that he could eat it. I had to explain to him that it was pretend cheese and we do not put pretend cheese in our mouths. Now whenever he sees that ornament he exclaims "Pretend Cheese!" and "No eating."

Evan has been full of cuteness of late. We have been trying to get him to say a prayer. We got one good one (with him repeating what we say) but he has clammed up ever since. Lately he decided that if he says the prayer he will get to eat sooner. The only problem is that his idea of a prayer goes something like this "Hefader (Heavenly Father) Amen!"

Harry is getting to be a bit of a contrary two-year-old. He loves to crawl up on my lap while I am knitting. I have found a fool proof way to get him off my lap so I can knit. All I do is ask him if I can have a kiss. He will take off running and giggling if I tell him I want a kiss. It is actually one of his favorite games to play.

Sunday Cuteness: Church

Today was the Primary program. For those not in the know once a year the children aged 3-11 take over the sermon portion of church and do a special program. It was always a Sunday of torture for me since generally the program runs way longer than the allotted time and the program was never all that exciting in the first place. Every child has a part even the youngest and this year was Evan's first time up there.

It was not quite the disaster that I had feared. Evan did not stay in his seat very well but he also did not make a break for it and try and leave the stage. He was heard to loudly ask when his turn would be and tried to go up a couple of time with another class. He was not the only Sunbeam goofing off though. One little girl kept standing up and waving to her mother and the others were quite restless. When it finally came time for Evan to say his line he spoke loudly (but not too loudly) but mumbled his line. He was supposed to say that one thing he was thankful for was his toys (they let the kids write the lines).

Harry was a bit bereft with out his brother. He kept wanting to stand on the pew so that he could see where Evan was sitting. He would then loudly exclaim "Dere is Eban, I see him!" I can hardly believe that next year Harry will be in Evan's spot.

All in all they made the time rather amusing and the program did not seem quite so long.

Sunday Cuteness

Today was Harry's first Sunday as a Sunbeam. It is strange to think that both of my boys are old enough to be in Primary with the "big" kids and are no longer the "babies" that are in Nursery. My husband and I got to meet our new class. Previously we were teaching the 11 turning 12 boys but since there were only going to be 2 this year we got the girls too. It should be an interesting but fun class. Some of the girls could potentially get the teenage attitude but I think that they will behave during class if I can keep it fun and interesting. the boys I know will be no trouble since I am friends with both of their mothers. They know I would have no issue with talking to their moms if they misbehaved.

I was trying to take a picture of just Harry but Evan decided to get in on the action too.

Harry looking introspective and serene.

I tried for a smile picture but he would not take his fingers out of his mouth and we were running late.

Sunday Cuteness

Is there anything cuter than a picture of my kids playing nicely together? I sure can't think of anything.

I thought I would give a potty training update, I know you are waiting at the edge of your seats for an update. There have been a number of accidents, usually when I have forgotten to remind him that he should try sitting on the potty. Today I tried to be very good, but by the end of the day I was tired and forgot to remind him to go before dinner. He ended up peeing on my living room curtains while he was trying to watch the storm that started while we were eating dinner. *sigh*

Evan may not like going potty at home but he loves going to public bathrooms. He has learned that all he has to do is say the magic words and he get to see me run around like a loon trying to get him to the bathroom on time. I am getting very tired of cramming into tiny stalls with him, pulling his shorts all the way off and his undies all the way off only to have him sit there and do nothing. If he ever becomes famous, that alone should earn me a really nice house.

Sunday cuteness

Here is Evan in the classic "I am wearing shoes that are way too big for me" shot. My husband wears size 12 shoes so his sandals are more like skis to Evan than shoes. Evan was quite proud of himself for being able to put them on with out falling over.

I bet you think that something utterly fascinating is going on outside. Maybe there are lots of friendly dogs out there or there is a parade happening in front of the window. Well you would be wrong. It was my neighbor scrubbing the dried remains of the plums from the flowering plums out front off of the sidewalk around her doorway. They preferred that over the episode of Sesame Street that was on the TV.

Sunday Cuteness: Harry edition

Harry's bracelets. They are from a stacking toy and he originally had them shoved all the way up past his elbow. He came to me crying that they were stuck so I helped and then he was all smiles.

Harry adores stuffing things into bags.

My husband likes playing video games from his youth. We own a Nintendo 64 and this fun little controller that has Sonic games on them. Harry kept saying "Harry turn, Harry turn" and then when he was given the controller he proceeded to hold it and stare at the tv. He did not manage to move the character all that much, but he was excited when he did. I am sure we have a future gamer on our hands. Playing Sonic is a lot of fun when you take thumb sucking breaks.

Sunday Cuteness

When we pray the kids are usually pretty prompt about folding their arms.  Lately I have been trying to step up level of reverence at prayer time by having the kids bow their heads and close their eyes.  At church when it was bow your head time I would gently push the head down and tell them to bow their heads.  They have translated that to mean that when I say bow your heads a hand is necessary to push the head down.  Harry saw Evan doing it and he now eagerly uses both hands to roughly push his head into position.  I find it quite hilarious and have a hard time not laughing every time they do it.  Evan is also very amusing with his attempts to close his eyes and keep them closed.  He kind of moves his head around like Stevie Wonder when his eyes are closed.

The kids also adore playing on my bed.  Since the weather has started to cool we have been spending more time indoors.  I am sewing a jacket for the dress I am wearing to my sister's wedding.  It has been great to be able to have them in the next room entertaining themselves while I am able to sew in relative peace.  They are both old enough to (most of the time) respect the boundaries of the bed and not fall off.  They are also tall enough now to be able to get off and on safely. How they can spend house just hanging out on the bed I am not sure.  It is not even like they are jumping on the bed like wild little monkeys.  A lot of the time they just haul their blankies from their bedroom and just snuggle under them on our bed.

Sunday Cuteness

Evan hit a very important milestone this week, he learned how to put on his pants all by himself. Some people may wonder why this is something worth noting but others will get it. Evan has no use of his left hand making simple things like dressing a much bigger challenge. The great thing about this accomplishment is that he did it all on his own, neither I or his previous physical therapist had been working all that much on dressing skills.

During the day he generally runs around in his underwear. It is easier for him to use the bathroom that way and when he is done I will help him put his undies back on. He prefers to be fully dressed and gets cranky at me when I take his shorts off after we are done running errands. Finally I told him that if he wanted to wear his shorts he would have put them on himself (never even thinking that he would actually do it). The next thing I know he is out of his room smiling up a storm and wearing his shorts.


Of course they were backwards, but we will work on that.


Harry is also constantly growing and changing. He has started using "I" to refer to himself. Evan still refers to himself in the third person. Harry is cutest when I am trying to get him to eat something new and unfamiliar. I just pretend that I am going to eat something off of his plate and he will yell "I eat, I eat!" and then gobble it down. I know that trick will only work for a little while, but is pretty darn cute while it lasts.

Sunday Cuteness- Evan edition

This is Zipper butt Evan. He insists on putting on his pants backwards even though he knows how to put them on correctly.

All the cool kids wear their pants this way.

I have a new name. Evan started out by calling me mommy which recently changed to mom. He delighted in yelling "Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!" when ever he needed (or thought he needed) my help. Now I have a new name. Evan has started calling me Mom Ourlastname. It is rather amusing even though I am not sure what caused the change.

Sunday Cuteness

Sorry there are no pictures this week. Evan is generally half n*ked all the time, so any pictures I would have taken would have not been fit for public viewing where there are creepy people with creepy thoughts about cute and innocent little boys.

Harry is such a cute and helpful little guy. He lives to help me and gets so excited when I let him do things like help unload the laundry and do the dishes. When he helps with the dishes I will put the silver ware basket (minus the small knives) up on the counter and he will stand on the step stool and put them all in the proper place. I have been doing a lot less bending down lately since Harry is more than happy to pick up stuff off the floor and put it where I ask him to. I want to bottle him up and have him be this helpful forever.

Another cute thing about Harry is his love of broccoli, or "trees". We have stir fry now and then for dinner. I think that my boys are Asian kids in American kid's bodies because they gobble it up with none of the reluctance that is normally seen when new and different things are served. Harry especially loves to have me pile the "trees" on to his plate. Evan has caught on to his excitement and we let him have a few small trees (he can't have too many since the vitamin K in the broccoli will counteract his blood thinning medication). I am thinking about seeing if they like "trees" raw too. If I make it a regular part of Evan;s diet then his medication dose can be adjusted accordingly. I just never thought he would be consistent with it, so it was easier to just avoid them all together.

Evan did awesome in church today. He stayed dry and went potty in the Ultra Scary Public Bathroom With a Big Potty for the very first time. I bought some waterproof trainers for him awhile back when I started flirting with the idea of thinking about potty training so we did not have to worry about him making a big mess if he did have an accident. I learned my lesson about that long before I had kids. When I was living in San Diego I taught the Sunbeams for awhile and one of the kids had a big accident (he must have been saving it for a long time) and I felt for the parents when they had to clean it up. I did not want to have to go through anything like that.

Sunday Cuteness

Evan is getting to be quite the prankster. Yesterday afternoon he came to me insisting that he was poopy and wet. I could not really smell anything but decided to check any way since my nose is still stuffy from the cold that we are all getting over. As I start taking his diaper cover off he starts laughing hysterically, and I discover that he is not poopy or wet. I guess that was the little kid version of being punked.

I was wrapping some things up to send out in a package and of course the boys were very interested in what I was doing. I had some extra tissue paper so I took some of their toys and we played opening presents. It was funny watching their different opening strategies. Evan ripped right into his and even used his left hand to help hold the present still (AWESOME!!!). Harry carried his around for about a half hour before even thinking about opening it. When he did start opening it, he would rip a piece, run it to the garbage can, run back and rip another piece starting the whole process over again. After that was done he went and picked up all the pieces left behind from Evan's present. Harry is definitely a very detail oriented kid and likes things to be correct. As he gets older he is getting more rigid about things and less willing to accept alternatives.

Sunday cuteness addendum

I forgot this fun little tidbit in the original post.

Evan's physical therapist has been working on getting him to crawl. It s a great way to get him to use his left hand and it is beneficial for his brain wiring too. She used to have to hold his legs so that he could not turn into his butt scoot, but now he is getting what she wants. Even though he gets what she wants he is often a stinker and needs bribing on occasion.

During one session she was having trouble figuring out a way to motivate him to crawl. The usual food offerings were being snubbed but he had been showing some interest in the box that we keep all the small matchbox type cars in. The therapist announced out loud that if the car box was to be opened that crawling was needed. Harry immediately gets on all fours and crawls right to the therapist who is laughing by now. You can tell which one of the boys is th better listener right now.

Harry has been a clingy little boy of late and I have figured out why. His second set of molars is coming in. Now that I know this and am giving him medication for the pain he is much happier and so am I.

(late) Sunday Cuteness

The boys dancing around our defunct yard light.

Harry modeling my newly finished mittens. I managed to finish them in time for the weather to get nice and hot rendering them useless until next winter.

This is a very blurry picture of Black Fish and White Fish our newest fish in our tank. The danios we had in there died (probably because I was horrid about remembering to feed them but I have reformed, honest!) so I thought some pretty goldfish would look nice in the tank. Evan likes the black one the best "because it is cute". Harry likes them both equally and they both love watching the tank and squealing over the fish.

Sunday Cuteness

Evan has this new phrase that he likes to use. Instead of being happy he is cute. It all started one day when I was questioning him about his behavior prior to allowing him out of his room where he was being punished. "I am not sad, I am cute now" was his reply to me asking if he was done whining and crying about some imagined slight. This phrase has made it into his regular vocabulary and I find it rather.. well... cute.

Yesterday my husband's work had a kid's holiday party. It was mind numbingly boring for the adults, but the kids had a fun time. Santa even came and brought books (secretly supplied by the parents) for the kids. They even had some people doing balloon animals for the kids. With the amount of popping that was going on I could tell there was a balloon animal slaughter going on.

They got to "decorate" their own cookies which was basically spreading frosting on the cookie and then adding sprinkles.

Evan with his green lips after eating his green cookie.

The big guy himself. He stopped and talked to many of the kids Evan included but some guy got in the way of my shot of him talking to Evan. Santa was played by a guy that my husband works with and according to him that belly is not padding. Also that other kid standing next to Harry was quite the.. um how shall I say it?.. "active" little boy. My husband sometimes moans about the kids misbehaving but they were perfect angles compared to that kid.

I will have more pictures of the boys and Santa but not right away. There was a photographer at the event so I have to wait to get the close up pictures. Harry surprised me and actually sat on Santa's lap this year instead of freaking out like he did last year.

Sunday cuteness

Harry is getting to be quite the little monkey. Every morning when I open the blinds I put the cord up on top of the brick to keep it away from little hands. Those little hands figured out that if you stood on the box of blocks you could get to the cord and have a lot of fun. Harry was laughing up a storm before I took the cord away and ruined all his fun.




Harry passes out when he is upset or mad. Evan has recently become fascinated with the whole idea of passing out. He will frequently ask if I am going to pass out or if my husband will pass out. This morning Harry was having fits about the whole process of getting ready to go to church. I heard Evan asking about Evan passing out. I look over and there Evan is laying on the ground pretending that he is passing out. I could not help but laugh at that one. At least that reaction was better than the time Evan ran over to poke Harry while he was down.

Sunday cuteness

When it comes to dessert I am not a cake person. It is ok, but I would rather have pie or ice cream. Also once you have eaten the initial celebration pieces you are often left with a lot of cake left over just sitting there asking you to eat it. My husband turned 29 years old last Thursday so I dutifully baked him a cake. I have decided that cakes are worth it because you can get pictures like this.

This is what happens when I try and blog in the morning.