"He'll jump off the roof and wonder why he broke his leg"

One last post about my crazy boy Owen.  I took him in for his two-year checkup last week.  His doctor is really good about showing Owen all of his tools and telling him what's going on.  Owen doesn't cry during doctor visits, unless we have to see a different doctor.  He showed Owen the little light on the ear scope and told him he could touch it.  Owen hit it as hard as he could, then laughed.  The doctor looked shocked and told me he's never had a child do that before.  Not ever.  Owen was climbing everything in sight, running around like crazy and of course his hair was sticking straight up despite my attempts at taming it that day.  Finally the doctor said to me, "He is one awesome kid!  He's full of energy and will be the kid who jumps off your roof and then wonders why he broke his leg."  The doctor was completely serious.  I already knew all of this though, the doctor just confirmed it!

Celebrate!

Terrific Two's!

I can't believe my baby boy is two today!  It has flown by so incredibly fast.  When we were expecting Owen I was really hoping for another boy.  I'll never forget when the ultrasound tech announced to us that we were having a boy and I couldn't stop smiling!



He's such a sweetheart!  He's all boy and loves cars, trucks and trains.  He still doesn't talk much, but is very expressive and is always making us laugh.  He makes the funniest faces!  He hates vegetables and loves sweets.  He's completely spoiled by his older siblings who constantly give in to his every demand (I might be part of the problem too, maybe).  He loves playing outside, exploring and running around.  I love this age because he's very curious and gets so excited when he discovers something new.  Trips to the zoo or park are the most fun at this age!

I'm a little sad he's growing up so fast.  It's just way too fast.  I'm loving every minute with him and feel so lucky to be his mom!

Happy Birthday, Owen!

Tomato plants and faith

When the kids and I are outside, we always spend time admiring our little tomatoes.  The kids look for the biggest tomatoes and will argue over who found each one first.  Recently while we were all crouched down looking through the plants William noticed there weren't any weeds.  He knows as well as I do that our garden bed is usually covered in weeds, so he was very curious.  I explained that since the tomato plants had grown so much and become strong, they had basically kicked out the weeds by taking all of the nutrients from the soil.  His eyes lit up and he started talking about faith.  He told me that if our faith is strong like the tomato plants we won't allow Satan to tempt us, and just like the tomato plants kicked out the weeds we will in essence kick Satan out of our lives.

I think that's what we call a parental paycheck!

4 great kids and a long drive in the car

Jason was out of town over the weekend and I was determined to do something extra fun with the kids.  They all wanted to go to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone, Montana.  We've always gone in the winter, so we wanted to go during the summer and enjoy watching the animals without freezing.  It was great to see everything sans snow.  In fact, the weather was perfect!  It was a lovely, cool summer day.  As soon as we walked into the bear habitat we saw a huge bear climbing a tree.  It was funny to watch, because the tree wasn't all that big.  The kids, especially the boys, love learning about birds of prey.  They get books about them at the library every week. So when they saw the new Birds of Prey exhibit with eagles and owls, they were very excited!  It was quite amazing to see these huge birds up-close.

My favorite part of the trip was the drive.  That's not usually the case with four kids!  We didn't turn the radio on at all, so we spent the time talking without any interruptions.  It was so nice!  I try to spend time talking with each of them everyday, but it's not as easy as it sounds!  There's always distractions, like a crying toddler, a dog barking at squirrels or a phone that's constantly ringing. We talked about our many blessings, sang primary songs, and the kids opened up and told me things that had been on their minds.  I have great kids!  They are kind, strong and good. I couldn't help but feel so lucky to be their mom.