Super Bryan!!

Bryan LOVES his new superhero cape. He goes around saying "dun-da-wun" and posing w/ his cape and mask and whatever he has in his hand at the time as his "smacker." It's kind of nice because when I asked what Super Bryan does, he said "Help people," and he's much more willing to do little things for me when I ask. =) So it's not so bad having a little super hero around.

If anyone's interested, I custom ordered the cape from the following site: http://www.superflykidz.etsy.com She's got cute options for people like me who don't sew...

Anyway, here's a video of Super Bryan in action!

Our week...

I was feeling bad that nothing big and exciting has happened lately, but then I decided that that's okay. Simple is good. Here are some of the little things that have happened this past week.

• Matty started crawling! He's all over the place now and I'm starting to realize how tricky it is to keep track of 2 kids on the go. So far he hasn't gotten himself into anything really bad, but he loves the big plant in our front room and goes right for the dirt everytime he has the chance!
  

• I bought my first pair of summer shoes. =) They're bright and cheery - my way of willing the summer weather to come faster!

• We went to the park three days in a row (loved the nice weather!) and Matty got his first sunburn. It wasn't a bad one - just enough to make his cheeks rosy - but we went out the very next day and bought him a hat for future walks in the park.
  

• I got to have a night away and go down to Provo to hear my brother sing w/ the BYU Men's Chorus. The music was divine, and afterwards we all enjoyed a good visit over Baskin Robbins ice cream (yum!).

• I finally got to visit with my old MTC companion, Amy Johnson (Zentz), and see her two kids. It's been 8 years since we were in the MTC together (crazy!!) and a couple years since I'd seen her, so it was good to catch up!

• David bought me "Enchanted," which I'd never seen before and really enjoyed. He also bought "Dan in Real Life," which I love!

• David took a screening test as part of the application process to become a State Farm agent and passed with flying colors! Apparently he's got the perfect personality to be a successful insurance agent. =)

• Bryan's superhero cape FINALLY came in the mail! He was asking several times a day about it all week, so we were very excited when it arrived. =)

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." (Robert Brault)

Happy Easter!

We had a really fun Easter weekend. Saturday, Bryan got to participate in an Easter egg hunt over at the care center where Aunt Heather works. Bryan enjoyed finding lots of eggs, but he especially liked meeting the Easter Bunny (who was actually Uncle Jake - but Bryan didn't know that).

On Sunday, Bryan sang w/ the Primary in Sacrament mtg. for the first time, and I cried seeing my baby looking so big! He didn't know the words to the song, but he moved his mouth and faked it pretty well. =) Later in the day we had Heather, Jake, Grandma Willes and Javi over for a yummy ham dinner, and we had a little visit from the Easter bunny as well. Bryan got to find some more eggs w/ candy and unfortunately was on a sugar high for most of the afternoon and evening. We did, at least, have some eggs w/ pictures of Jesus in them, and Bryan told us that Jesus' body had been in the rock and then He went back to get his body and talk to Mary. With all the hype surrounding the Easter Bunny and candy, it was sweet to hear him describe so simply the REAL reason behind Easter.

I am so grateful for our Savior. I know that He was resurrected on the third day and that he lives! I'm so grateful for the peace and joy and hope this knowledge brings me, and I love being able to share this knowledge w/ my boys!

When Bryan's left to play on his own...

I have to admit that I'm not the best play companion for Bryan. On good days I don't mind playing cars or "fighting" or whatever it is Bryan's wanting to do, but after about 20 minutes or so I'm ready to be done. (Is that really bad of me? I hope I'm not the only mom that feels this way...) It seems I have the attention span of a child rather than the other way around. Not to mention all the things that have to get done around the house, etc. I can't wait until Matthew's big enough and he and Bryan can play together! In the meantime, Bryan comes up w/ some pretty creative ways to entertain himself, and as long as it doesn't ruin anything or make too big of a mess, I'm okay w/ it! Here are a few pics I've taken that show some of the things he's busied himself with lately...

He likes playing in the sink, giving his cars baths and stuff like that. This day I found him "shaving like Daddy" w/ his toothbrush.
Arranging and counting Q-tips on his workbench. Pretty darn entertaining, if you ask me!

Pretending to be a cook in his "maker bib" (apron).

Finally putting David's drums to good use!

He color-coded his cars all by himself. (I think he's a little bit obsessive compulsive...)

"Bad guy"/superhero - "to the rescue!" Yes, he put together this outfit himself. (I've finally ordered him a real superhero cape but he's having to improvise until it arrives...)
And here's just a pic of Matty keeping himself busy w/ toys on the floor. He does pretty well, as long as there aren't plants or paper products within his grasp! (Still not crawling yet, thankfully...)

Matty and the Cheerios

Our little Matty is turning into a little piggy! He eats just about anything now, but he especially loves Cheerios. =)

(David is speaking in Spanish for his family...)

Things about ME

I was "tagged" last week by my cousin, Diane, so now I get to write a few random things about myself. I'm much more comfortable writing about the men in my life, but here it goes...

1. 10 years ago I was... living at Liberty Square in Jamestown 31 (shout out to the Jamestown 31 girls!!) and attending BYU. It was my sophomore year and I think it was probably the most pathetic time of my college experience. All of my close guy friends had left on their missions and I was writing a missionary (good old Tommy T) and that was about the extent of my association w/ guys that year. =) I think I had 3 dates the entire school year!! I blame it all on the haircut I'd gotten the previous summer - it was butch short - like a guy. I liked to think I was bold and unique to have such short hair, but I really was not all that cute at all. Anyway, w/ my lack of a social life (outside of hanging out w/ my roommates) I spent most of my time holed up in my room eating sour gummy bears and studying to be an elementary school teacher, which was my major at the time. Thankfully, lots of things have changed since then!

2. 5 things on my to-do list today... (1) bake "Sneaky Chef" cookies w/ Bryan; (2) tutor my neighbor in Spanish (I give her 2 half-hour lessons every week); (3) go to the Children's Museum w/ friends Tina & Joseph; (4) finish doing laundry; (5) watch "Lost" and "Eli Stone" - Thursday nights are the best!

3. Snacks I enjoy... I LOVE cold cereal and marshmallows. Those are my comfort foods. I also enjoy tortilla chips and salsa, gummy candies, strawberry milkshakes, and microwave popcorn.

4. 3 of my bad habits... (1) Getting too wrapped up in a good book - I tend to neglect the rest of my family when I read; (2) Eating too many sweets; (3) Obsessing over things - I always have to have something to obsess over, whether it's looking for houses, researching baby carriers, blogging, etc.

5. 5 places I have lived... (1) Peoria, Illinois; (2) San Jose, California; (3) York, Pennsylvania; (4) Madrid, Spain; (5) Utah

6. 5 jobs I have had... (1) Piano teacher; (2) Receptionist; (3) Subway "Sandwich Artist"; (4) MTC Teacher; (5) Junior High English and Spanish teacher

7. 5 things people don't know about me...
(1) I was a total tomboy when I was little. My best friends were the boys in our neighborhood and I spent my free time playing Nintendo, baseball, Star Wars, and cops and robbers. I never owned a Barbie and always got spaceship Lego sets and things like that for Christmas until I was in junior high.
(2) I'm painfully shy. =) Maybe that's been obvious to some of you, and maybe not to others. Meeting new people and being in certain social situations is really scary to me! It doesn't help that I blush like crazy for any little reason, and sometimes for no reason at all! (sigh)
(3) I'm a control freak. I like being in charge of things. One little example is how whenever David and I look at something together on the computer, I always have to be the one using the mouse and keyboard. It drives him crazy! I also always have to be the one to read maps or instruction manuals or things like that. I guess it's the perfectionist in me as well.
(4) I do weird things in my sleep! I have "night terrors" occasionally where I see things in the room (anything from buffalo to Rastafarians w/ dreadlocks) and I end up screaming and freaking out. Poor David!! He's had to put up w/ so much. =) Once I thought someone was coming in through the window and I fell out of bed, bolted out of the room and ran down the hall where David had to tackle me to get me to wake up! I was pregnant at the time, so it was pretty scary...
(5) I'm extremely competitive. I played sports in high school (softball, volleyball, and feisty church basketball) and I hated losing. When David and I were dating we went to the park to play volleyball and I got really mad at him because he was so good and I couldn't beat him! He jokes that I almost scared him off that day... Since then I've accepted the fact that David beats me in just about everything, but I still get really worked up over a game of "Ticket to Ride" or anything that involves winning or losing.

So there you go. A few tidbits of info about me and my life.

Why???

I can tell Bryan's a three-year-old now because he's started asking "why" for everything! It doesn't matter if I'm asking/telling him to come and eat dinner, put his shoes on, stop watching cartoons, take a nap - whatever! His response to everything is "why?" While it's gotten a little bit annoying, it's been interesting to actually have to think about why I'm having him do different things so I can give him a real answer. I'm trying hard to avoid the "because I said so" line, but it's a lot of work to come up with answers that make sense to him. So far he hasn't stumped me w/ any really hard "why" questions, but I'm sure that time will come soon. There are plenty of things I don't have answers for! In the meantime I've found that if I at least sound like I know what I'm talking about, he's okay w/ my answer. Or if I start talking long enough about something, he loses interest and forgets about his question all together.

I've realized recently that there's a big difference between the "why?" questions we ask as children, and the "why?" questions we ask when we're adults. I read in a book by Gary Lundberg (marriage/family therapist) that in our relationships w/ other people it's not good to start questions w/ "why" because they're either used to get the other person to defend themselves or they're a pointless way to express anger or frustration. Like if I ask Bryan why he spilled his drink, it's only because I'm upset w/ him and not really looking for an answer or explanation. So while Bryan has begun asking more and more "why?" questions out of simple curiousity, I've been trying to not use it so much. Instead of "Why did you pee in your pants AGAIN?" I say instead, "What do you think made you forget to go to the bathroom?" Instead of a guilty shrug of his shoulders he's begun giving me actual explanations! (Usually he blames it on the Cheerios he ate for breakfast...)

Anyway, I guess it's good that Bryan's asking "why" so much since he's sincerely seeking answers for things and not trying to make us feel bad. Life has got to be extremely confusing to a three-year-old. I'm sure he really does wonder why he has to go to bed and David and I get to stay up and watch TV, or why he has to sit still for so long at church, or why the fun pictures on his big-boy underwear go in the back on his bum where he can't even see them. =) Oh, the great mysteries of early childhood. If only our questions in life stayed so simple!

More sneaky ideas...

I posted a month or two ago about being a "sneaky chef" and hiding veggies in different foods. I've never been a huge fan of vegetables, so I'm all for ways to get them into my diet any way I can. And of course, unless you're lucky, it's always a challenge to get kids and husbands to eat anything nutritious! I do offer Bryan baby carrots and things w/ his meals, so I'm not always sneaky, and I'm hoping that he grows up to be a normal, healthy eater. In the meantime, though, I've found some foods that make eating healthy a little bit easier! They're yummy and convenient and highly recommened for picky eaters. =)

Sweet potato fries - who would've thought you could eat sweet potatoes as fries?? Sweet potatoes, by the way, have tons of vitamin A and other good things...

V8 Fusion - has a full serving of veggies AND fruit (Thanks to Jana P. for telling me about this!)

Flat Earth Veggie Crisps - these are Bryan's favorite things!

Go Jazz!

It's a good thing that I like sports so much, because during basketball season it seems like our lives revolve around Jazz basketball! Our schedules do, anyway. Since coming to the U.S. David has become as passionate about the Jazz as he is about his Spanish soccer team, Real Madrid. I tease him about it, because I've never been with anyone who actually cries over sports! Bearing his testimony, talking about his family, and watching sports are the only things that bring him to tears. =) Since we've been married, I have to admit that his enthusiasm for the Jazz has been contagious, and while I don't cry over a win or loss, I'm a fan. So I don't really mind making time to watch the games, as long as it doesn't conflict with FHE, putting the boys to bed, etc. (David can bathe the boys and get them in bed in record time if he knows a game will be starting.) My Valentine's Day gift to him this year was a pair of Jazz tickets, and he's at the game right now with his brother, while I sit here and watch the game on TV. They're doing well, so I know David will be happy when he gets home. If they ever lose a big game, I know to leave him alone for a while until he cools off a bit. He told me today that as soon as we have some extra money, he wants to buy season tickets. Then we'll really become slaves to the team! Oh well. It's fun, and we're glad they're doing so well this season. For David's sake especially, I hope they keep it up!