Dreams

Check this one off my bucket list!

The Adventures of Superboy and His Trusty Sidekick, Superbaby!

Most of the time he is known as not-so-mild-mannered toddler George, but when the neighborhood is in need, he transforms himself into.... SUPERBOY!

 Always safety conscious, he wears his helmet whenever he rides his speedy trike as his cape flaps in the wind. 

Foreseeing the tragedy of a curious cat stuck in the garbage can, Superboy closes the lid of each open can he passes. This makes for a very long walk.

He is sure to interrogate EVERY suspicious branch he comes across. This is not an exaggeration.

 Despite his busy schedule, he always stops to point out the beautiful flowers EVERY flower. 

 Litter? Not on Superboy's watch! 

 Don't forget to close the lid!

Able to spin an over-sized mommy in a single push!

Bike stuck in the sand? Superboy will spin the wheels for you and throw sand every which way!

Have an ant hill in front of your house? No worries! Superboy will stop to inspect that as well! 

 His "kryptonite": playground bark in his supershoes

And now we learn about Superbaby, the trusty sidekick.

Able to smile immediately when a camera is turned on within a 20 ft radius

 Seriously...

His "kryptonite": playground bark on his hands...

 Which is quickly remedied by his mommy's kiss

What's What

Live continues on. General Conference was this past weekend. I was definitely inspired to be better. I want to be a more nurturing mom. I feel like I'm so rough all the time. I want to be one of the women they described so beautifully in Conference. I want to doubt my doubts before I doubt my faith. What an awesome quote by President Uchtdorf!

It's October and it's still pretty hot around these parts. But it's beautiful in the early mornings. In fact, I'm shivering as I type this with my back door open to let the cool air in. I don't know if I will ever survive another Utah winter after being spoiled here. But there is nothing like a Utah summer. So perfect!

Speaking of Utah, our family is currently at a crossroads. Glen has the option of going to school to work on getting a doctorate or getting a teaching job with his masters and living our days out in Utah close to his family and a chunk of my family. The second option is way more comfortable. We would have everything we need. The first option seems more like what Glen has always wanted. I want him to do what he dreams of doing. I am happy to live in a tiny apartment with my kids for a few years while he gets his degree. I would follow him anywhere. That sentence just reminded me of a conversation I had with my best friend in high school. I said, "I never want to be one of those girls that just follows a man everywhere. I want to go to *enter prestigious university here*." Oh, how I have changed. I would do anything for my little family. I am so glad I was able to finish my degree at BYU though. I definitely wouldn't have had Glen not pushed me to do it. We don't seem to be receiving any kind of revelation on which option is best for our family. I think that is because both options are good options. But time is running short. Glen would have to start applying to schools next month which means he has to take the GRE now. I would love either option.

It feels like the right time to welcome another baby into our family but I'm afraid I always will feel that way. Luckily Glen is level-headed. I hope to be pregnant within the next year. I just love my boys so much and can't wait to add another!

Life surges ahead! I love this little life of mine and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Georgisms

So, we're driving to the grocery store and George says, "Mom, look at that man!" I, of course, am worried there is a man on the side of the road buck naked or something, so I say, "What man?!" He says, "Up in the clouds!" Sure enough there is a cloud that looks like someone flexing their muscles. He says, "See! He has a face and he's strong like me!"

Then he says, "What's that?" I couldn't turn and look to see what he was pointing at since I was driving so I just settled with, "I don't know." He said, "It's kinda like (his favorite phrase) a tower. Like the Eiffel Tower but it doesn't have one point, it has two." I realized he meant the transmission tower and I just laughed in surprise that he even knew what the Eiffel Tower was. Kids these days.

WHAT?!

Is it really September? Where did the summer go? My sweet Georgie started his second year of preschool already! I can't stand it. And he's so dang smart. I don't think I was that smart at his age. He just knows everything and picks up on everything. I have to be really careful about what I say around him. For example, this morning, we were talking about Oliver. Ollie was still asleep in his room and George had climbed into our bed.

He said: Brother was in your tummy and he grew bigger and bigger and bigger.

Me: Yep, that's right. Then he came out and we loved him and gave him lots of kisses.

George: Is there a baby in there?

Me: No, should we put one in there?

George: Yeah! But how?

Me: ....Um..... Daddy puts it in there....

George: How?

Me: Hmmm... This is more in-depth than I was hoping the conversation would go.

*Ollie cries from his room*

Me: Let's go get brother!

He doesn't settle for part of the truth. He wants the whole story. And he will remember everything I have said to that point so he will be asking follow-up questions next time the topic comes up.

Ollie is cute as a button. I can't get enough of that kid. Right now at this very moment he is walking around with our pool bag on his head walking into walls and other such obstacles. Everything he does is hilarious to me. He went in for a check-up but I have yet to post the stats. I am turning in to that mom. You know, the kind that has more than one kid...

Glen started his second and final year of his masters. If all goes well he will graduate in May. His professors say he would be the first they have seen to graduate in his program in two years. Which is funny because everyone else is single and has no children. But Glen is determined to get it done and takes as many credits each semester as they will allow.

Us in Vegas for my friend Bobbi's awesome wedding

I got a promotion at work. It's a lot more work for not a lot more money but I am happy to know I am valued and I really do love my job. I love that I can be home with  my funny, smart kids and watch them learn and grow.

George is a fish! He is such a good swimmer!

Utah!

About two weeks ago we had our ten year high school reunion in Springville, Utah. We knew we needed to make a summer Utah trip so we planned it around the reunion. We drove up on a Wednesday which meant I could go into work on Thursday and Friday and meet all of the new people in person. Then Friday night we dropped the boys off at my brother's house and went back to Springville High School. What a fun experience! Many things had changed but just as many had stayed the same. Granted, ten years is not very long but it only seemed like yesterday that we were students there. I loved my high school  experience. I didn't date or go to many boys' choice dances but I loved my friends and enjoyed almost all of my classes. We had a fun luau dinner without kids. Afterwards I was talked into a late movie with my sisters. I'm glad I went but boy was it hard to stay awake; even with Man of Steel's hot bod flashing across the screen. Then Saturday we had a picnic at a popular park in Mapleton where I used to live. Kids were invited to the picnic so our kids were able to play together.

This is my friend Ryan. He and I would have deep conversations about Spongebob Squarepants and his hilarious antics

We stayed at my father-in-law's house which we love to do since there is so much for George to do outside. He loves his Grandpa Hicks!

We like to pretend George is happily singing here but he is actually yelling "NO!" because he didn't want me to take his picture

Saturday after the picnic we loaded up the car with kids and Grandpa and drove up to Ogden to spend time with Aunts and cousins. George and Ollie love their cousins! We went to the Children's museum first which was having a free day sponsored by a city group so that was nice. 

Children's Tree House Museum

Then we headed over to Union Station to see the trains. George and Ollie loved them! 

George with cousins Melanie and Aaron

The whole gang, sans Glen who was taking the photo

We then had dinner at the Cracker Barrel which is a family favorite. We drove home on Sunday and left beautiful Utah for the scorching heat and unusual humidity of Arizona. 

Mexico 2013

Mexico was fabulous as always! Everyone always says Mexico is so scary but it really is not. You just have to know where to go and what to do. And being with someone who speaks the language or speaking the language yourself is a huge plus as well. We spent five days on the beach with a few of those hours spent on a boat deep sea fishing, snorkeling, eating the fish we caught in amazing tacos and trolling. That is always my favorite day. They take us to a place called the aquarium where the water is relatively shallow and it is protected from wind by mountains on almost all sides. It makes for amazing snorkeling. We always find really interesting creatures. We also came across a HUGE pod of dolphins that we went through a few times and watched them jump all around us. It was so cool! Then we saw a GINORMOUS whale and her calf. So awesome.

I only got sunburnt one day when I fell asleep under the shade and woke up in the sun. Whoops. I was all alone on the beach because my family was asleep, all of the men were on a fishing trip and the girls were out shopping. I always want to go fishing with the boys but usually they get a five person boat and already have it filled to capacity so this year I didn't even mention wanting to go. And I am not one for shopping. So, I laid on the beach by myself and fell asleep. I'm still dealing with the after affects.

George absolutely loved everything. He loved catching blue water crabs early in the morning and white ghost crabs in the evening. He loved fishing and swimming in the ocean. He loved playing on the beach with his cousins and he really loved swimming in the pool. George has been in swimming lessons and he has really taken to it. He can swim pretty far without taking a breath but he does know how to flip over and get one when he needs to. It's pretty amazing how quickly his teacher gets kids from crying in the water to swimming across the pool. This trip he started doing a half smile which is displayed above. It was very interesting to say the least...

Ollie took a while to enjoy himself on the beach. He had some sad experiences but by the last day he loved it. And the drives there and back were mostly uneventful and the kids were mostly well-behaved. I'm so sad we are home already. It really flew by. I can't wait for next time!

Happy Birthday Ollie!

My tiny baby Ollie is now one. I don't know how I feel about that. He's so sweet and I love him terribly! We had a birthday party for both George and Ollie last Saturday. I am waiting for pictures from that to post about it but it was a lot of fun!

Last night, on Ollie's actual birthday, we went out to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate. It's nice to know that our kids are well-behaved enough at this point to be able to take them out to dinner with confidence. We had a great time, no drinks were spilled and no children were carried out screaming! (This will most likely change when Ollie is 18 months and we'll take a 12 month hiatus from taking them out with us, as we did with George...)

Little Ollie is walking all over the place and this morning he figured out how to stand up without holding on to anything. He talks a lot but no one knows what he is saying. He's speaking Ollese. It's pretty darn cute and I can't wait 'til we understand all the wonderful things he has to say. He loves to play with George and thinks he's the coolest kid in the universe (no one has challenged this notion to date). He can wave "bye-bye" and point to anyone's nose on command. He loves all food but his favorite is still breast milk... I'm working on moving away from that to maybe just once a day instead of all day, erry day. But I do enjoy the convenience and the health benefits for both of us. Oh, he also really likes cheesecake apparently...