Afton's 3rd Birthday

Afton is 3!
I made the mistake of hosting a birthday party indoors,
inbetween two trips,
while sick and playing mom to a new 2-month-old.

And here's how it went down:

Awesome food spread (no picture)

Cakepops & Stand

Home-crafted "prince" and "princess" crowns (no picture)

Cake
(I was addicted to the t.v. show "Amazing Cakes" at the time...can you tell?)

Pinata...
with Luke-made "ghetto blaster"

And finally,
Gifts

If I had it to do all over again I would:
1. Hire a photographer
2. Hire a hair and make-up artist for myself
3. Hire a caterer
4. Hire a babysitter
5. Call "rent-a-happy-husband"
6. Hire a party-planner
7. Take a nap
8. Wait to cry until everyone has left...instead of trying to pretend like my red, puffy nose had been there the entire party.
9. Choose invitees that relax me :)
10. Probably decide not to throw a party after all

Overheard

Munchkin #1 playing with Legos in his room:

"Dear Heavenly Fodder, please help me to find my

2,

light-green

'three-banger'

legos

so I can finish my truck...

And I really, really, really do believe that you will help me find them...Amen."

Not sure if the best part of that was the use of "three banger" or the fact that he was praying :)

Munchkin #2 playing with 2 potato-head toys:

"Do you want to go to duh gym?"

"Yeah I do!"

"I want to go to duh gym too."

"Come on! We are going to duh gym!!!"

Note: "three-banger" = a lego with three nubs (what ARE those circle thingies called?)

We do not discriminate in this household against potato-shaped people

Torture!

Forget the surf-torture.

Forget the water-boarding.

Her drunken slurs say enough.

Obv. I was nowhere near.

Or I would have stopped his hilariously evil ways.

:)

Note: He ended up driving around the neighborhood to get more footage

and she noticed he passed the "turn-off"

M&Ms and Patience

So if you haven't heard or read the talk,

"Continue in Patience"

by Dieter F. Uchtdorf

you should :)

It's here

But this is the part that gave Luke inspiration for the video below.

It's an interesting study:

In the 1960s, a professor at Stanford University began a modest experiment testing the willpower of four-year-old children. He placed before them a large marshmallow and then told them they could eat it right away or, if they waited for 15 minutes, they could have two marshmallows.

He then left the children alone and watched what happened behind a two-way mirror. Some of the children ate the marshmallow immediately; some could wait only a few minutes before giving in to temptation. Only 30 percent were able to wait.

It was a mildly interesting experiment, and the professor moved on to other areas of research, for, in his own words, “there are only so many things you can do with kids trying not to eat marshmallows.” But as time went on, he kept track of the children and began to notice an interesting correlation: the children who could not wait struggled later in life and had more behavioral problems, while those who waited tended to be more positive and better motivated, have higher grades and incomes, and have healthier relationships.

What started as a simple experiment with children and marshmallows became a landmark study suggesting that the ability to wait—to be patient—was a key character trait that might predict later success in life.

And here is Luke making his own study:

Baby It's Cold Outside

...or was.

I'm just late in posting.

So what does uber-coldness look like?

This is underneath the snow...

And since our little snow-removing nugget had the day off,

this is who we put to work.

It may not be the fastest snow-removal service, but it's free :)

Brotherly Love

They are in-LOVE!

She moved her chair as close as possible, picked out her favorite book and started reading to him.

He's just as gentle as they come.

Everett's a lucky little dude.

I mean, what's NOT to love about this little squinty-eyed minion?!

And today,

we'll leave you with this picture.

This was their idea after their bath.

He said "the diaper keeps my head warm and the socks keep my hands warm."

Hmm. How 'bout a hat and gloves?

...

Nah.

I like this better too.

A Superbowl Sunday Welcome!

2 weeks early,

At 6:04p.m. we welcomed our 2nd baby boy,

Everett Hayden.

Contractions started mid-morning Sunday.

The first sunny day we had had in a quite some time.

And anyone that knows me, knows how AWESOME that is for me!

(it's that seasonal affect disorder thing that I'm sure that I have)

Luke took the kids to church while I did some last preparations.

I started planning earlier this time around so I wouldn't have another

"almost had the baby in the car" experience.

I mean, we all know I love adrenaline-producing moments,

but no thanks on the whole

"trying to walk up to L & D with a baby's head between my legs" thing.

I was so thankful it was sunny

and so thankful the kiddos would get to play outside over the long weekend

(no school or work Monday)

with their best buds and not even notice our absence.

Thank you to our dear friends Audrey, Courtney, and Laura!

Pit-stop #1 = Getting kids dropped off

Pit-stop #2 = getting Luke some lunch, in preparation for his pushing efforts....bwahaha...

Pit-stop #3 = getting our workout on.

(Nevermind that I think the hubs was using the wide-hippo-angle lense.)

Pit-stop #4 = Hospital.

We arrived around 2p.m. where the doctor told me I was only at 2cm.

What!?!

I told the doctor she had fat fingers.

She said "go take a hike."

Um....no.

This baby was coming the way I had planned the entire 9 months goshdernit...

Quickly, or we were gonna name him Gertrood :)

We took the hike, and I was at 8cm when we returned at 5:15 p.m.

Hallelujah.

I had just finished telling Luke that

if I wasn't at an 8 with the contractions I was having,

I wasn't sure if I could make it without drugs this time.

Our mid-wife then told us she was moving us into a delivery room.

YAY!

I love that moment! 'Cause you know when they are making the preparations for the baby, it's close...

it meant I could almost see the light at the end of the painful tunnel.

I held out as long as I could without pushing(without drugs it's easier that way)

and then hopped up on the bed 10mn before his arrival.

I pushed maybe 4 or 5 times, as opposed to

Afton's push #1 = head; push #2 = whole baby.

And you'd better believe I would have popped Everett out in one shot too,

but the mid-wife was holding me back.

It was def more painful this way,

but the recovery was a bajillion times better because of it!

So thank you mid-wife Melanie!

Stats: 7lbs 14oz and just shy of 21 inches.

About to go home after 72 hrs!

He is such a cuddler. I love it!

Porter, Luke, and Everett...

weighing in at 8.9, 12.9, and 7.14lbs, respectively.

...

...

And we'll leave you on this note :)

Yes, those are her legs.

And yes, we are aware that she shows some resemblance to her Chinese Acrobat uncle.