Week of Love

I love Valentine's Day. Haven't always, really just since married life began. Yes, we hug, kiss, and say, "I love you" every day. And shoot to try to have a date once a week. But a date on a Tuesday? We had TWO dates this week. :) A day to make things extra,extra wonderful.

And we have managed to turn it into a Valentine's Week. We finally finished using the last of our sugar cookie dough today and decorating heart shaped cookies with Brycen. He has loved them...all week.

A few highlights of our week:
For Valentine's Eve: While making dinner, I made sure to put extra sunflower seeds on Bryce's salad. Kind of a inside joke but it made him smile.

For FHE, Daddy and Brycen destroyed the kitchen by making cut-out sugar cookies together. Quite the adventure and mess. After Brycen was in bed and I was cleaning the kitchen and Daddy was doing homework, I decorated two sugar cookies with messages specifically for Bryce--one that he would see when he woke up in the morning and one for his lunch.

Valentine's morning: I came down to a candle illuminating a corner of the dresser that sat a box of homemade, hand-dipped chocolates bought from the youth of our ward as a fundraiser (a wonderful idea if you ask me--they were delicious!), and a beautiful necklace that matches a ring Bryce wears and acquired while on his mission to Ireland (the Claddagh). AND the snow scrapped off from the van so that I could make it to my beloved aerobics with the boys. Did I mention we are now a mini-van family? I never wanted to be one but you really can't beat the space and POWER LOCKS! (extra bonus being, of course: the power sliding doors, and the heated leather seats) for the price we paid. And now, I love it.

During the day, Brycen and I cut out some paper hearts and listed reasons and included treats for why we love Daddy, that Daddy would find and read when he came home.
When he came home, we ordered a heart shape pizza from Papa Murphy's that was delicious, easy, and fun. Look at that grease--extra delicious. haha. ;) I also got to play an hour of my beloved volleyball--a surprising and unexpected treat.
And then after the boys were in bed, Bryce and I dipped strawberries in chocolate--one of my absolute favorite, delicious traditions and spent time together.

2-3 days after Valentine's: An HDMI cord came in the mail that connects my tablet (my dead
computer replacement) to the TV, that Bryce said was a belated V-Day gift. The cord inspired me to sign up for the one month free trial of Netflix and we might already be hooked...episodes like SuperWhy! that distract Brycen and have him singing the ABCs while I cook definitely helps keep a happy house.

We bought a couple discounted candies at Wal-mart one evening and I woke up to conversation hearts on my pillow the next morning followed by couples volleyball that night.

A week of Love in the dead of winter? JUST what I needed.

My Boys

Our happy boy is very easily startled/scared. And when that happens, we see this bottom guy appear:

Winter Days

Superbowl Sunday

 About as excited about football as Daddy is.

 Pure LOVE for bathtime. 

 EASY, HAPPY Baby. (That's a sock on his hand, not his foot)

 I was telling Bryce last night, "If Cian remains perfect, it's sure going to make it hard having more kids if they aren't". 

Cian has been a pure joy. Loves to eat, sleep, and ride in his car seat. And is so happy in between. Make eye contact with him and smile and he will do the rest. 

Carnival Fun at a local Elementary School. 

 The face painting lady was slightly scary but the boat she painted, made up for it.

With all his goodies. 

When its 15 degrees outside but feels like 1, I'm so grateful for a home and other warm places where we can play and dream of Spring.

Brothers

They STILL like eachother. I definitely planned on a harder transition. I'm sure the day will come but until then....we'll enjoy this:

RIP

2 weeks ago, my beloved laptop died. I had no idea when I closed it for the night the night before, that it would be the last. Thus, explains my complete lack of blogging. Really, much technology all together. By the time Bryce comes home with his computer, and after dinner and boys are in bed--I'm beat and ready to hit the hay. No technology was really kind of nice until now that it's back, I realized how behind I am on this thing.

While on the subject, Brycen has entered a stage where he wants to know everything. His favorite question is "why? or what?" And recently we rented a movie from the library titled, "Iron Will". Towards the beginning, the main character's father falls into an icy river and doesn't come back. While watching it for the first time, a concerned Brycen immediately turns to me and asks, "Is his dad going to be okay, Mom?" Death. Something we haven't really discussed. And how to explain? While I stumbled on how to explain, Brycen then asked, "Where did he go?" I replied, "He's in Heaven, with Heavenly Father".

Well, our FHE discussion ended with Heaven tonight when Brycen asked where Jesus is. I then told Brycen that Daddy's Grandpa is in Heaven as well. And then asked him, "Who else is in Heaven?" And Brycen responded, "the dad from the movie".

His memory always amazes us and his love for learning is wonderful. He is very much into using me/mine/yours/ours/his/hers/etc. No longer refers to himself in third person and is always using comparisions. "That boy is small like me, Mom". "Cian has blue eyes like me". "You sneeze like me and Cian". And always making lots of observations. "The sun must be napping today Mommy, I can't see it" (It was a cloudly day). "Daddy smells like stinky flowers".

And a day doesn't go by without hugs and kisses for Cian. I still can't believe that Cian is over 3 months old. How time flies. Cian loves to smile, squeal, giggle, and poop. Adores both sleep and his older brother. And laughed for the first time tonight. So so fun.

And random fact: sunshine makes all three of my boys sneeze. Just one step outside is all it takes and Cian and Brycen will sneeze within a minute of doing so.

....hopefully a post with pictures will be coming soon.

2 Months

The grandparents taking it all in.

The other side of the above pictures:

Cian had his 2 month appointment on Friday even though he technically turned 2 months while we were in Utah.

At 2 1/2 months:

12 lbs. 6 oz

23 3/4 inches tall

41.4 cm head--in the 80%!!

So basically, gained 4 pounds, grew 3 inches, and head expanded over 4 cm in 8 weeks. He finally has cute baby rolls that his older brother was born with and just like Brycen, Cian has a very big head. They sure take after Daddy.

Cian is smiling, coo-ing, laughing, and kicking like crazy. I just gave him a bath and he loved it. Kicking and laughing (and pee-ing) through the entire thing.

He seems to recognize me pretty well and it is so fun to hear him respond and turn to my voice when I come near.

Cian still loves to sleep. He took a 5 hour nap on Saturday. When he isn't asleep, he is very alert and happy and doesn't mind being put down unless it's evening time. Evening time is the fussy time of the day and he much rather be held than anything else. He is also still rather gassy but seems to be handling it much better. And when he lets ones out that are so loud, he scares himself. It's just plain funny.

P.S. If you are wondering why Cian has gloves on his hands, it's because his hands get so cold! They have been since day one and thus, we almost always have socks or gloves on them. Anyone else have this problem?

Brycen continues to adore Cian and is always the first to let me know when Cian is awake and that I should go get him.

And since Cian has begun smiling more and more and thus Bryce and I usually say something like, "there's a good smile!", moments within giving our attention to Cian, Brycen counter-demands it with, "Look at me! I'm smiling like Cian!" And we see this:

Haha! He is a one-of-a-kind and we love it. After lunch today, he informed me, "Mom, I'm tired. I need a nap". Shortly after using the bathroom and brushing his teeth, he was out like a light. It's a good day, indeed.

Indiana Christmas Weekend

With us heading out to Utah and then Oregon in just a few days, we enjoyed our own little Christmas as a family of 4 this weekend.

Christmas festivities included visiting the huge Christmas tree on Purdue Campus.

As well as the giant gingerbread house. Brycen loved it...well, all except that we wouldn't let him eat it.

Notice where his little hand is.

Brycen making sure Cian stays warm. Please ignore the spit-up that he promptly did right before I took the picture.

Brycen helping Mommy make Candy Trains. I remember my mom making these for my elementary school classes growing up. I decided to make them as a 'Thank You' for those that came to my baby shower a little over a week ago. Since Cian arrived 3 days before the initial baby shower was planned, it was postponed for a few weeks. It turned out to be perfect. Lots of chatting, snacking, and present opening. I told them not to bring anything, but they did anyway. And the gifts were perfect: diapers, wipes, burp clothes, 2 new outfits, personalized gifts for "Cian"--things that you can use no matter what number child they are. We have loved them.

And...the advent calendars. Brycen has quite enjoyed both the chocolate and cloth and velvet one. The cloth and velvet calendar is one Bryce's mom made and every day, you take out either a object or character to make up the Nativity Scene. So fun.

And then our first, Christmas Day (Sunday). We had a nicer meal Christmas Eve with one of Bryce's co-workers, over to join us. And then on Christmas Day, the traditional Christmas Pajamas were opened as well as stockings, and a few gifts we gave each other. Brycen recieved a bag of Clementines and 2 huge grapefruit in his stocking and you would've thought he was in heaven. Our kid LOVES fruit.

He also received a remote control Mader (from Cars), some DVDs, and a work bench that he helped Daddy put together.

The fun thing this year with Brycen is that he understands so much but at the same time, not. The big box that had his workbench in it, sat wrapped by the tree for a few weeks and Brycen never even attempted to unwrap it or bother with it. He basically saw it as another piece of furniture and it took quite a bit of explaining and directing him for him to realize it was a gift. "Brycen, go grab your last gift. The BIG box. RIGHT there. UNDER your hand". Daddy still had to go point it out to him and when he comprehended what it was, his eyes got so big. It was fun.

He wore himself out and he didn't even realize it. He fell asleep sitting up, on the ground. His eyes would close for a few minutes, his head would bob, and he would wake up temporarily and say, "Mommy, I don't like being dizzy".

Eventually he gave out.

And left Daddy to this.

And Mommy to take pictures. Among my gifts, I received a beautiful pearl necklace, bracelet, and earring set, a watch, and a new camera. My last camera which was given to me by my parents 5 Christmases ago and I have taken thousands of pictures with, has slowly started dying on me. But I loved it. Basic, easy, fast, and dependable for nice quality pictures so I got the exact same camera, but much improved over the last 5 years. A Kodak Easy Share and the love for it continues.

Daddy also received a watch, among other things such as gloves, a razor, and a stainless silverware set, service for 8. He has wanted one every since we got married and some Christmas, obviously, several Christmases from now--we may have a family big enough to use them all. :)

The rest of the day was filled with church, fruit smoothie and brownie making, sitting around the fire, singing, playing, and watching the Nativity movies on LDS.org.

Loved spending the day with my cute little family but we are looking forward to seeing alot more family here in a few days. Merry Christmas!