They grow up so fast...

It's crazy how fast kids grow up....people always tell me that, but now I understand that it's really true! This kid especially, he seems like the baby to me still, even though he's almost two! In this picture he looks so cute and innocent...But this kid is a magnet for mischief! If he isn't right by my side literally at all times I know he is doing something naughty....

He had climbed up the stairs and was gone for maybe a minute if that, and I thought, uh oh, it's way too quiet. So I turn the corner on the stairs and find him doing his hair with some vicks....

He really piled it on, it was at least an inch thick on the top of his head....maybe the reflection of the light on his head might be a clue to just HOW greasy he was!

We washed, and washed, and washed again....that stuff was not coming out! For days after he had a permanent hair style.....sticking straight up and super greasy.

Another favorite thing of his is to climb up on the stools in the kitchen. On this particular day, there was some cereal on the counter and he took full advantage of his chance to slip away and have a hayday with that cereal!


He mixed them both together and had a feast for about 5 seconds until I caught him....seriously, he can do a lot of damage in under two minutes!



This one is probably self explanatory....he got into my mascara and wanted to look pretty just like mommy...

Having Thatcher first didn't prepare me at all for all of the fun stuff we've been experiencing with Luke. Thatcher never got into cupboards he wasn't supposed to, or made big messes, or was really mischievious at all. He was the perfect well mannered kid until about 3....that's when we had a whole lot of other fun issues! But maybe since Luke is getting it out of his system early, he'll be super well behaved by the time he turns 3.....but I'm not holding my breath!

Thatcher is turning 5 in a couple of months and is starting to do so many things! He's growing up way too fast...I don't think I'm ready! He is always wanting to play with friends, this is his best friend that he met in preschool. We've had to schedule regular playdates, sometimes once or twice a week. They have had to be separated in school, and this is the only way to get them to be ok with not being able to sit by each other and goof around during class time.

He started soccer again and is so much better this year at the whole concept of chasing the ball. The first two seasons I don't think he knew there was even a ball involved...he would spend the games chasing other kids and doing somersaults on the field and dancing around. He was always fun to watch though!

He is starting kindergarten in August, and I always thought I would be so happy for him to go! I thought, Oh, I won't be sad at all...this kid has so much energy and always needs something to do, it'll be great to have him occupied everyday. Didn't think I'd be sad AT ALL....then I went to orientation....I cried at orientation! Um, this wasn't supposed to happen! They showed a slide show of kids in kindergarten this year and all of the fun things they got to do, and it was all set to music....I was literally crying! He can't be this big, and maybe I'm not ready for him to grow up, maybe he needs to stay home one more year.... kindergarten is for older kids!

Wow, I don't know how I'm going to handle the day I have to drop him off at school. Just writing this makes me sad! He is such an amazing boy! He is so smart and absorbs every little bit of information he sees and hears. He loves playing outside and learning about nature and bugs. He loves reading, he loves to tell jokes and be funny. He loves to dance and be silly. He is the best kid I can imagine. How can I let him go to kindergarten? All by his lonesome little self.... I know he'll love it and won't think twice about making new friends or having a new teacher. He adapts so well.... I can't believe how fast they grow up!!

I want to move to St. George

I can't even talk about the cold snowy weather....  :{    

If only we lived in constant warmth!! Oh what a life that would be.....

Our trip to Sunny and Warm St. George, oh how I miss you already

Hiking with the boys

Thatcher with my Dad

A random girl at the top of the Dixie Rock wanted to show Thatcher a lizard she had caught

Hiking with the fam....my dad and sister Jen shared in the fun times

Is it sad that I once went through these narrow rocks without any stuggle at all??

Luke didn't even know how much fun he was having, but it was a lot!

We found this really cool trail by my grandma's house that we went rollerblading on. It goes along riverside drive and clear out to Bloomington I guess. It was so pretty!

I could barely keep up, Mat is so speedy on those rollerblades!

It was much harder for me to push AND try to rollerblade at the same time

This is the first time we'd been to the sand dunes, it was awesome!

The boys loved it

Thatcher and Luke of course only had enough energy for one way.... they got to be carried on the return trip. Thanks daddy!

We found this fun restaurant called Pirate Island that we ate in the last night. Thatcher was so excited, he loves pirates! (hence the name of our blog address, in case you wondered why we chose that ridiculous one!)  It was all pirate themed, the waiters were dressed as pirates, they had a huge arcade to play in..... but the food.....the food was not good!! I think  in most themed restaurants this is the case, sometimes you get lucky, but we were not.

This is how we entertained ourselves on the long drive home.... thanks sour gummy worms.

The joy of St. Patricks Day!!

I think Thatcher has as much anticipation for St. Patricks Day as he does for Christmas morning...What did those crazy Leprechauns do this time?! He even wore his green pajamas to bed so he would be prepared....

They managed to turn our breakfast green....AGAIN! Oh, They're tricky! This time they didn't just get our eggs and milk, but our oatmeal too. I know, nothing looks more appetizing than green oatmeal

Even little Luke enjoyed eating green breakfast....

I'm glad Thatcher was not agitated like he was last year when he didn't appreciate all the effort it took those little Leprechauns to to break into our house and cause such mischief.  Nope, this year he loved it and was amazed.

 He made sure he and Luke had on plenty of green in celebration of this magical holiday.

 

 He had a treasure hunt at school and managed to find some gold....how lucky is he? 

So fun to have a four year old who loves St. Patricks Day

February Fun

So February was a crazy month! I'm sure January was too, but I'm not good enough at blogging to keep it up to date like I should. I usually hate February, last year it seemed like the boys were sick the whole month. The weather is usually horrible, I feel trapped indoors…. This month I was getting excited for Valentines Day and Thatcher and I decided to do some decorating. . .  we got as far as our front door with home made signs and cut out hearts. . . amazingly crafty, I know! He got to hand out fun little valentines to his friends at school that he was so exited about.

 We had some friends come over to help make Valentine cookies. The boys had so much fun playing and decorating the cookies

… well mostly playing.

                

 The cookies still turned out delicious and festive.

 We were feeling pretty lucky around the 12^th of the month that no one in our family had been sick yet. We had a trip planned for St. George on the 13^th for Presidents weekend, but that day Luke got really sick and had a hard time breathing so we ended up at Primary Children's instead.

We were really lucky to get in right away. He immediately got hooked up to oxygen and was given breathing treatments every two hours. He was also hooked up to an EKG machine, pulse ox, blood pressure…. It was really sad to watch him laying there kind of helpless to do anything.

     They ended up admitting him and we spent three days in the hospital with him.

I think the hardest part was trying to keep him in the bed the whole time. He was attached to so many things he wasn't able to really get up and walk around. We took turns sleeping in the bed with him 24/7.

Primary's is such an amazing hospital. They have a lot of things to try and keep the kids entertained. We had a huge movie selection to choose from, toys, books, food… I think he would have actually enjoyed being there under different circumstances.

His nurses were incredible, I really felt like they cared about him. One of them brought him this awesome truck that he got to take home with him.

Being there really made us appreciate the health that our kids have. It's such an amazing hospital, but not one we like spending time at. I really feel for those families that have to spend weeks or months or more up there with a sick child.

 Here he is in the cute (by cute I mean scary) hospital p.j.'s they gave him to sleep in

We felt really blessed that Luke was able to improve as much as he did, it was so great to see him with all of his energy back on that last day. He was back to being his happy self and we felt confident he would continue to improve once we got him home in his own bed.

Mat and I had a memorable valentines to say the least. We got to spend it together eating ice cream from the hospital café and watching Nick and Nora's infinite playlist while little Lukey slept by our side.

 

2008 in retrospect

2008 was a good year, but I'm looking forward to 2009!

Here are 10 things I learned in 2008

1. Don't look for houses to buy until yours is sold! It's hard to fall in love with a house and then realize you might actually be stuck in yours longer than you think because the market is horrible!

2. Having two little boys can be super crazy but they make life amazing! No matter how much they fight (well Thatch fights with Luke and Luke just stares at him with a hurt look) they always give each other hugs and kisses and say the cutest little I love you's.

3. Turning 30 wasn't as scary as I thought it would be! I need to own up to being older and live life to the fullest!

4. When you have two debilitating surgeries within 4 months it is apparently inevitable that you will gain 15-20 lbs. from lack of movement!!

5. I have the best, most understanding, loving, husband in the world....oh, and funny too! Ok, I didn't just learn that in 2008, I have always known that, but it is still true!

6. 4 year old's still have tantrums like 3 year old's...really?

7. Having good family is so important, and I love my family so much! They have also helped us out a lot this year.

8. Blogging while good in theory, is not easy for me to keep up to date. So check back in another month and I might have gotten back to it!

9. A nice relaxing trip to Mexico IS all its cracked up to be!

10. Some t.v. shows are good for you. I love the Biggest Loser and am totally motivated by it, I have even been known to cry while watching it....only once or twice!

And going along with #8, I am just now getting to posting some Christmas pics. Luke met Santa for the first time at a family party and did not like the big fat man! He screamed and cried until we took him off his lap... he did however stop just long enough to capture the moment!

He was a little happier at this family party because there was no santa!

Christmas morning getting ready to see what Santa brought

This was the first year we decided to stay home on Christmas in order to let the boys play and relax, and we had grandparents come to our house. It was great! Here are Nana and Papa Allred visiting.


We did meet family over at sister Jen's house for dinner....so here we are getting ready to leave, with the aftermath still in the background!

After a long fun day.... giving hugs goodnight.
We went to Zoo lights this year and had so much fun! They had many more lights than I had expected and we still got to see a lot of animals...highly recommended!

This snake was Thatcher's favorite part.

They were all bundled up in the stroller and I think they were having so much fun they didn't even think about the cold.

And yes, these last few pictures are from Thanksgiving, but they were on the same batch of pictures as the Christmas ones and Thatcher wanted me to post these cute turkeys that we made for everyones place setting. 26 of them!