melt

This morning I was making Jax some cereal when he came up to me, looked me right in the eyes and with the sweetest most sincere voice he said

"Oh mommy, I really like your hair. It's really great"

Oh how I melted.

He has to be the sweetest kid ever.

And considering this is how my hair looked at 7:15 am

He deserves some sort of medal.

(photo courtesy of Jax Miner- notice how well he captures my many, many forehead wrinkles:)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was a blast this year! Jax was excited leading up to the big day and for me his excitement was the highlight of the season. He could not wait to hang up the advent calendar ornaments each morning starting December 1st and his anticipation for the Big Man's arrival was good to see.

Here Jax is reading the letter Santa left for him.

The Play Doh Mega Factory was a huge hit, as well as the mini tramp, the tunnel and Toy Story 3 Chutes and Ladders.

But the main thing on Jax's list this year was his very own digital camera. Santa delivered- what a Stud!

Jared's late mother made this advent calendar and we were lucky enough to inherit this treasure. Jax adores it, and so do I. Jared loves how much Jax loves it.

Giddy and hyper after so much candy, Jax thought it fun to wear the stockings as stockings. I mean, doesn't that make sense? :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Festival of Lights

This has become a fun tradition for us! The Festival of Lights in Spanish Fork is SO much FUN!!! Jax was giddy with excitement because he could "drive" the car with Daddy. It was adorable to see them sitting in the driver's seat.

The lights are so much fun to see! I guess this is similar to the lights at Thanksgiving Point but you don't have to wait 2 hours for these lights. Gotta love that!

Tyce was conked out in the back seat which was a bummer. He would have loved it!

You gotta love FFF

Oh, what's FFF you ask? Around here it's known as Forced Family Fun. Jax often needs to be pushed into doing new and different things. He gets caught in ruts and wants "sameness" a lot and it's good for him to shake things up a bit- it helps him learn to regulate better and accept others ideas of fun. So, the other day I was hit with heavy resistance as I suggested we go outside and build a snowman, but I patiently urged him to get bundled up and head outside.

Jax was okay with being outside but he couldn't have cared less about Mr. Snowie over there- all he wanted to do was eat the snow, which was fine. I gave up trying to get him to help me put together the snowman and just let him have fun doing whatever he wanted.

Handsome little man!

Then Mr. Bully Tyce came along and yanked off poor Mr. Snowie's nose.

And was then really upset that he couldn't put snowie Humpty back together again. The party was over after that :)
So yeah, it was FFF at its finest.

ugh....stupid toaster

I HATE this dumb machine...................

Because without fail this is what you get.......

What the crap Cuisinart?????? Okay, rant over.

Sensory Fun

We do a lot of sensory activities around here. Both my boys are receiving help from wonderful occupational therapists that help with some of their sensory needs. You can chalk it up to therapy but I just call this FUN! During the days you'll find us wrestling, jumping on fun shapes we've taped onto the carpet, spinning, rolling around in blankets, hopping on one foot to various places in the house, playing with finger paints, rice bins, soft brushes, listening to music while dancing and playing blindfolded.

This particular day Jax asked if we could play with shaving cream since he once saw daddy using some and has been very interested ever since.

Sure...why not?

Yes, it's messy- big deal- it's SO worth it. You can do all sorts of creative things like making shaving cream mountains and oozing the cream between your fingers and you can also write words!


It gets everywhere but it comes out of clothing and carpet easily :) we even added some WASHABLE paint towards the end and made all sorts of colors- it was great.

So, if you're up for a messy adventure I highly recommend playing with shaving cream (before bathtime :)

Meeting the Big Man

My parents' ward had a Christmas breakfast and we decided to drive up to Sandy to attend. We knew Santa would be making a visit and Jax was really excited to meet him. He asked before he left if he could hold his letter to santa so I gave it to him and he put it inside his pocket.

He was so patient waiting for the breakfast and the entertainment to be over because hey, all he really cared about was seeing Santa. He waited so patiently in line and once he got on Santa's lap he was all business, taking from his pocket his hand written Christmas list.

All of the other kids sat on Santa's lap and told him what they wanted, not our little Jax man- he was probably thinking it much more efficient to just hand deliver his exact wants to Santa so he wouldn't forget, plus we all remember things better when we get hit with both auditory and visual stimuli :)

Santa got a kick out of Jax's letter and spent a little extra time with him going over his list which included his own digital camera, space shuttle, a garbage can, and a fish game. It was adorable. All of the parents were giggling at how cute he was up there showing santa his list.

Tyce did not patiently wait for Santa and was quite bothered at me for not giving him free reign to run around on stage. He wasn't sure what to think of Santa.

He didn't cry at all, he was just squirmy and once Santa gave him candy Tyce decided this big red dude was alright afterall and gave him a smile.
Fun memories

Jax the photographer

Jax loves to take pictures. He hands down would rather play with our digital camera then any "toy" on the planet. Here is some of his work :

the all important Buckeye game.

Molly: our candy land girl- don't call this figure "him" or else Jax will correct you.

I think I was texting here....looks like I'm using lots of brain cells to do so.

Tyce being naughty and touching our brand spankin new washer and dryer.

And his favorite subject is me, and oftentimes the unflattering angles he captures really gets me bummed out. I won't show you the closeup he took of my zit the other day.

Some Days

Some days I think to myself that I'm a pretty good mom.

I think to myself, "wow, my boys are "getting it"

I think, "the world is a pretty decent place after all"

I think, " hey, my butt looks alright today"

Those are the days when my boys behave themselves and act happy and healthy.

Some days, they act like little turds.

And well........it in turn makes me think that they aren't "getting it" at all, that they'll never "get it", that the world sucks, and that my gluteus maximus is DEFINITELY looking big......

sigh..........

Some days can make you feel that way, and I right? Of course I am :)

It's just how it goes sometimes. Sometimes as a family we seem to take 2 steps forward and 1 step back.

I have learned something important from my husband, who happens to know it all ( which he tells me often that he's forgotten more than I'll ever know :) But in all seriousness he's a freakin genius and everyone knows it. And sometimes he dumbs himself down a bit to give me good advice that I can understand.

He says that with parenting you have to look at trends and patterns, you can't just look at one day, or even a few days or more- and jump to conclusions from it.

I have to look at both of my boys and look at their development and expect that there will be some days where they seem to take a step back. I have to understand that they are moving forward and making progress but in this journey of getting to where they are going there are going to be times when there are bumps in the road and they will trip and fall over these bumps and seem to have temporary amnesia when it comes to things they've learned or skills they have gained.

Sometimes that one step back can mean a pretty crappy day or week or month.

Tyce had a rough day today.

He did not want to talk to me. He said maybe 3 words. He did not make good eye contact today even though that's been something that he has shown improvement with. He was just ornery. And didn't want to play or cooperate in any way.

How was it that a few days ago he was a total angel? He was chatty and looked in my eyes as he requested something (after I insisted he do so), and he was happy and playful and sweet and cute.

Jax also had a rough day.

He was dis-regulated. He was hyperactive. He was rigid in his play. He showed more OCD behavior today. He was not cooperative and didn't want to play with his friends or play with his brother.

I just NEED to be patient. I never have enough patience.

Well enough of that rant....... on to exciting news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finally bought skinny jeans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha! Ya'll thought I was pregnant didn't you? he he

Definitely a NO in that regard.

And yes, I love these jeans just like everyone said I would. Don't you just love how a quick trip to Target can brighten your day?

(photo courtesy of Jax Miner)

Happy Halloween!!!

Jax was actually excited to head out trick or treating this year. You have to understand what a huge deal that is for me. He rarely gets excited about anything and this year he actually got it and had SO much fun

He also loved "sharing candy with our neighbors".

Oh, and this is by far the saddest halloween picture. Tyce had pinkeye on Halloween so was not able to go out with his brother. I was seriously so bummed for him.

Jax of course loving the opportunity to ring the doorbells.

Happy Halloween!

Richards family Halloween party

Here is my brother Jason spoiling everything with his low blow. Jerk. Kidding, I love that guy.
Jax doing some sort of karate chop thing. He had a blast
My mom was princess Fiona. She sewed her own costume. Cause she's awesome like that.
Oh my precious little monkey. Have you ever seen a cuter monkey? honestly.


All the cute cousins. Talk about crazy fun trying to get all these busy bodies in one location.

The new sheriff in town was HOT! What can a witch do but a little of this? :)

I had so much fun with everyone- I only wish I had gotten more pics of my awesome family members. I love you all!

Pumpkin patch

We went to our neighborhood pumpkin patch and the boys had a ball. The highlights for Tyce included this cool tractor, the petting zoo and swan diving into the corn pit. Jax loved the maze- LOVED IT. Both boys also loved climbing on top of the maze to walk around on top. The low point for both boys was when we told them it was time to pick out pumpkins. In their minds that is completely boring, but they reluctantly followed us out there and picked up pumpkins. Tyce chose a tiny little green thing that resembled an apple :) We had a lot of fun as a family and I loved watching my boys have so much fun.