My Two Cute Boys

Here are some pictures of my two cuties. We haven't been up to too much since our last post, just taking turns being sick. Poor Ford, it seems like it's always his turn, Wade, Dock and I have been sick on and off but our little Ford has been sick with the flu, cold, or croup for the last five weeks. We're hoping he gets better soon because its no fun to be sick. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the last few weeks. I love Dock's little face. Isn't he cute. Our super talented friend Erin made this cute hat for Ford and now we get to use it again. I'm so glad we're getting to pull everything out for the second time. It's funny how some little outfits have such strong memories attached to them. It's fun to remember how little my baby Ford was and it makes me realize just how fast it goes by. He's not my baby anymore, now he's a little boy. His dad cut his hair and now that he's loosing some of that baby fat he has started to look so grown up. He is talking up a storm. His vocabulary seems to have grown exponentially lately. Some of the things he says only I can understand but other things are clear as can be. He hasn't started to put phrases or even two words together just yet, but he can get his point across. He can count to three and we are working on four and five. His favorite things are balls, Elmo, chocolate and his baby (Dock).

Here are the boys playing in Ford's room. Ford still can't get enough of his little brother. There is always a lot of hugging and wrestling going on at our house. Dock is big enough now that he just smiles when gets bombarded by Ford.

Ford loves books. This is a book about Mr and Mrs Bird that his great grandma gave him. I remember reading it at her house when I was a little girl. (she gave him that hat with the dots too). I'm pretty sure he knows his favorite books by heart. When we read about something being upside down he turns the book upside down and if there is a part about noses he turns straight to that page and points to his nose. We just joined the Dr. Seuss Book Club and Ford got his first package in the mail last week. He was so excited to open up his new books, his face lit right up. Wade was also in the Dr. Seuss book club as a kid and he tells me some of his favorite memories are getting the new books in the mail and going through them page by page with his mom. Wade and I prefer reading Dr. Seuss books to a lot of other stuff that's out there, it really is well written (By the way, Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss)

We caught a ride to California with my Aunt and Uncle on their way through then rode the train back. I know I've said this before but it really is the best way to go. It takes a lot longer, well not much longer when you consider all the stops you usually have to make with little kids, but it is so nice to be able to move around and hold my babies. Dock just hanging out on the train. He is such a good little baby, super smiley and happy all of the time. We are working on tummy time because that is something I didn't do very well with Ford. Today he did is first roll from tummy to back. He won't take a bottle but is starting to figure out a pacifier and loves to have his fingers in his mouth. He is a big boy at 16+ pounds putting him in the 87th percentile for his age. Before we know it he is going to catch up then pass up his big brother. I love his curly hair and his big gummy smiles.

I love this cute little Ford face. He spends a couple of hours out of every day standing at this coffee table watching his Elmo movie on the laptop. He is a huge Elmo fan. When he wants to watch it he just points to the computer and says "Elmo" or "show"

This is how Dock spends most of his day. He likes to sit in this bouncy chair and just watch what's going on. I think he feels safe in the chair because it's a little harder for Ford to climb all over him when he's in it.

And here are my two boys together in their matching shirts. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to be one of those moms that dresser her kids the same all of the time. Wade would hate it. Maybe I'll only do it when I want to make him mad.

Magical

Look at these handsome men! They keep me pretty happy. Dock is becoming more vocal and likes to laugh and look at his toys. He's a chubby little dude at 13 lbs and already into his 3-6 month clothes. He'll be catching up with Ford in no time. Right now Ford makes him a little nervous, probably because Ford doesn't know the difference between a kiss and a head butt.

Ford is quite entertaining these days. When somebody says "who farted?" we've taught him to say "Meeeeee!" It comes in handy, especially when I make these delicious beans. I want to start working my way through my food storage, making sure we have what we need and rotating the older stuff. Beans are always hard to use because a No. 10 can makes a lot of beans (Does any one know how long dried beans are good after they've been opened?). Anyway, the trick to beans is a pressure cooker and ham.

I love my pressure cooker, Wade's parents gave it to us a couple Christmases ago and although it doesn't come out often it works miracles when it does. Those beans - 50minutes to perfection, artichokes - 7 minutes, and boiled potatoes - 3 minutes. I haven't experimented much beyond that, so if any one has a good recipe, send it my way. Yesterday we had the beans with rice, and today in homemade tortillas. Delish! and also not as hard as I thought. I've been cooking like crazy. I have to do something to keep warm in Elko. I just pulled the tortilla recipe off line but here is my beans recipe. These beans really are good, it's so nice to bite into a big ol' chunk of juicy ham!

2 1/2 cups dried pinto beans (don't soak them, you don't have to, but you can)

6 cups water

1 ham bone

2 1/2 cups cooked ham cut into big chunks (I used leftover holiday ham)

1 large onion diced

3 cloves garlic

1 Tbl chili

1/2 Tbl ground cumin

1/2 Tbl onion powder

1/2 Tbl celery salt

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Brown onion and garlic.

Add all the seasonings and brown until they are fragrant.

Add beans, water, ham and bone.

Bring pressure cooker to pressure and cook for 50 minutes.

Cool pot with cold tap water and remove lid.

You can make this in a crock pot as well but it takes 9-10 hours. (see what I mean about the wonderfulness of a pressure cooker)

Payin' it Forward in Twenty Ten

So Wade and I went to bed just after eight last night. Sleeping just seemed like the best way to bring in the new year. Dock started to get fussy and when I looked at my watch it was 11:58 so we hopped out of bed and headed to the dining room window where we snuggled up and watched the fireworks being set off at Stockmans Casino. Then we went back to bed. Not too wild but also not a bad way to bring in the new year.

I thought this pay it forward post would be a a great way to start the year. Teri did it in December and now it's my turn so I hope everyone is up early this morning because the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the next year a special gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog (or facebook page) to keep the fun going.

We had a great year and I am looking forward to all the adventures to come in 2010. I wish you all a fabulous year as well.

Grandma and Grandpa Fin

We were so glad to have Grandma and Grandpa Fin come and spend a couple of days with us. Even though it's been a little while since he's seen them, Ford remembered his Grandma right away and they got right down to business reading books and playing with his new toys. Dock was happy to get so much attention from Grandma and Grandpa. He gave Grandpa some big smiles and even a few giggles. Dock was also happy to finally get a bath. We ran out of fuel for our oil furnace on Christmas eve so we were quite cold until Monday afternoon when they could bring in some oil to fill our tank. With the house so cold I didn't want to get my little guy all naked and wet so he smelled a little like sour milk by the time he got a bath yesterday.

We love it when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit. They just left this morning but we are already ready for them to come back!

Piggies

I wish it was warm enough to set my piggies free.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was looking pretty bleak last night. We are far away from family and most of our friends and Wade was so sick he thought he was going to die but went to bed early instead. I stayed up with fussy Dock feeling lonely as I put the presents under the tree. Today everything is much brighter. Wade woke up feeling much better and it was nice to be together this morning, excited to share the magic of Christmas with our boys. Our best present this year came a little early... Ford got to open both his and Dock's presents. It took a long time to get through all the gifts this morning because as soon as he got one open, Ford would need to play with it for a bit before moving on to the next one. This is the only picture we got opening gifts, we had our hands full with these two little guys. Christmas Eve eve (the 23rd) was spent with our friends Lindsay, Mike, and their kids. We had a delicious feast and the kids got to play. Ford thinks these friends are pretty fabulous and so do we.

The Twelve Posts of Christmas

After I made my first two posts this month I noticed that they had the numbers one, two, and three in the titles so I thought, "What the heck, lets keep going". My goal: to make it to twelve by Christmas. Sometimes I've had to stretch a little bit or get a little creative but I made it and it's been fun. It helped me think of things to blog about that I normally wouldn't have and gave me the motivation to actually sit down and do it. I wasn't ambitious enough to try for 30 days straight like fabulous Teri, but I'm feeling pretty good about the number twelve (actually it was only 11 because one and two were in the same post). The thing that usually holds me back is that I don't think that I'm a very good writer and I know I'm a terrible speller. I always have Wade check everything before I post it. Wade is a fantastic writer but will rarely do a post on our blog. His excuse is that blogging is for girls and it's only my friends and family that check our blog anyway, he doesn't think they want to hear from him. So if you want a Wade post please leave him a comment. I think it will take at least 10 to urge him on. I'm not sure we have that many people that check our blog??? In other news, as I'm sure you could tell from the last post Ford was way past due for a hair cut so I put on an Elmo movie and we went for it today.

Look at that mop!

I love his little face in this picture even though it looks like I cut his hair crooked.

I did do a terrible job on his hair, but I like this picture because you can't tell quite as much. He's such a wiggly little guy, its tough to do a very good job especially since I don't really know what I'm doing. And here is chubby little Dock. His hair comes out all curly and fluffy after his bath but it only lasts for a day or two. This cute kid is getting huge. We just hopped on the scale together and he is already 11.5 pounds. He's a hefty little dude.

11:00 pm

Dock had just finished eating, Wade was sound asleep and I was well on my way when I heard the most heart wrenching cry from my baby Ford. At first I waited for him to go back to sleep and when that didn't happen I thought his hand or foot must have been caught in the railing of his crib so I went to check on him, nothing was stuck, he was just sad, so I gave him his monkey and went back to bed. A few minutes later I could still hear him, he sounded heartbroken so I asked Wade to hold him for a while. Poor Wade, he could sleep through anything, but the minute I ask, he is always willing to hold one of our crying babies in the middle of the night.

Wade went to Ford and I went back to sleep. A few short hours later Dock was ready to eat again. Wade still hadn't come back to bed and as I fed Dock I could hear Ford sounds coming from down the hall. When I went to investigate, there were Ford and Wade, both wide awake, playing with Ford's toys. Wade had held Ford until he fell asleep then he laid down on the floor with him and fell asleep himself. The next thing he remembers is being tapped on the chest with a Mr. Potato Head and Ford's silly smile. Who knows how long Ford had been up goofing around in the middle of the night while daddy slept.

Look at that hair!

Same kid, 15 minutes later

We've taught Ford a few signs to help him communicate since he doesn't say too much. One of his favorites is CHEESE, so when I tell him to say cheese because I'm going to take a picture he'll drop whatever he's doing and rub his hands together, making the sign for cheese.

I love this kid and his crazy antics.

Top 10 Choices

Before Ford was born I had three names I really liked, of those Wade chose Ford. This time around Wade submitted 10 names and told me to choose. With each name came a small paragraph making each name special and that much harder to choose between them. I had it down to three but still couldn't decide. Dock didn't get his name until after he was born and we got a good look at him (and Wade threatened not to tell anyone he was born until he had a name) Here is Wade's list for your reading pleasure... As Misty refers to the diplomatic distribution of water into the air, and Wade suggests a similar act of liaison between air, water, and land- I submit these names for baby becoming and his nomenclatural congruence to our watercourse negotiator, Ford. Blue The apparent color of aquatic members from afar. From the middle of the Great Basin- where no drop of precipitation finds it way to the ocean- the name reflects our dreams of being nearer to the sea. While the word often connotes feelings of sadness, our love of the color portrays a sense of satisfaction with the present as we sit under the spotted shade of a tree and view the grand color of the sky through the leaves, curious about what is beyond, but rather comfortable where we lie. Eddy A surface reaction to conditions below; whether rocks, a drain, or other underwater movements. This action speaks to the honesty and consistency and our hope that such a name would lead our new one to be true to himself, us , and the robust set of religious doctrines that will shape him just as those elements that cause the phenomenon in the natural world. As water cannot drown, we hope the name will cause him to be resilient and whether or not is caught in sundry whirlpools, we expect him to adapt and flow on to the most suitable spot. Rill This watery incision forms in disturbed landforms as a reminder that regardless of human and other uses, the earth must drain her topography into the greater watershed systems. From rill to creek to river, to lake or ocean, this name commands respect for higher systems and interdependencies. His motto would involve something like, “Lift where you stand,” “E pluribus Unum,” “Be There,” or “Whatever thou art, act well thy part.” Bridge An engineered ford, the purpose is the same- get on the other side of the sinewy aqua-ribbon. This method employs technology, innovation, and creativity if the structure seeks to frame or supplement the surrounding wonders. The name would imply that the masculine line of our family is willing to try new things to make us collectively more able, as though wading and fording were fine for those who they served, but in today’s world, some people just shouldn’t have to get their feet wet. River Whether the Snake, San Joaquin-Sacramento, Sevier, South Platte, and now the Humboldt, our lives have been shaped by these landscape signatures. Our river pedigree covers the three greater watersheds of the United States, The Atlantic, Pacific, and Great Basin. The feature itself is evidence of persistent obedience. They rarely flow uphill or altogether stop without severe intervention. Their seemingly mundane routine reflects their humility in drastically beautifying our world. Beck While these smaller scale water thoroughfares do not have the volume and the impact of the grand passages mentioned above, they have no problem thrilling the senses in creating and maintaining evocative scenery. From cascading waterfalls to irrigation ditches, these components sew the landscape together and make us whole in the process. Despite a seeming inferiority to rivers, a beck will out dazzle as it loans itself to us as we are able to comprehend and enjoy it in a more personal manner. Dock The edge of the land extended into the grasp of the water, this softened transition demonstrates a willingness to risk vulnerability in the quest for better conversions as the landed become seafarers and back again. It is the facilitated versatility that I hope the youngster would take from this title, the desire to welcome a variety of exchanges and to make whatever accommodations necessary for another to approach- even if it means making wood wade. Ebb A calculated ocean rescinding its tide or a body of water donating its last drop to someone’s crop or shower- each allowing for a flow elsewhere. This understanding of balance and giving would allow a tyke to ponder in perpetuity on the give-and-take nature of happiness. He would pray for the communal benefit of all, knowing that a true answer to that divine supplication would instruct him to be temporarily inconvenienced. Moses The Mandorla prophet of the world religions- one whose family life ceased when he was placed in the water, as his opportunity to lead commenced when he was taken out. He hit a rock and water flowed, He crossed a miraculous sea ford in an act of aqua-diplomacy that demonstrated a fine piece of faith. His shattered, mosaic law was part of tricky time living in the Elko of the Middle East, but by reassembling the broken pieces into something worthwhile, he got himself translated. Well We drink from strategic holes that yield previously hidden water. Who the hell knows how aquifers work, but thank goodness we have these ambassadors who magically make geologic treaties with the underworld which allow us to be quenched. May a guy by this name soften the nastiest of dirt and rocks and carry on relations with these types in order to make the world better for everybody else.

Flashback Friday - Nine Years Ago

I left on my mission in November 2000. I went straight to the MTC (CTM) in Sau Paulo, Brazil where I spent Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. You may think that sounds a little sad and lonely but it was awesome. I had a great district and there were lots of other fun Sisters and Elders there. I don't remember Thanksgiving much, maybe I wasn't really there yet, but Christmas was full of good food - lots of cookies and exotic fruits. We got to say up late on Christmas Eve and watch movies all day, we bought presents for each other from a little stationary store down the street and on New Year's Eve there were fireworks that we could see from our windows.

This was taken in my first area, Santa Cruz do Sul with my first companion, Sister Passos. I didn't understand her and she didn't understand me one bit, but she was really nice to me and would make me banana shakes for breakfast.

This is our shower. The heating element is in the shower head and we would sometimes get a little shock when we ajusted the water.

Man, the food was yummy. Southern Brazil is know for its churrasco (Brazilain style BBQ) but this was my favorite place. This was at a Brazilian/German tea house. We got herbal tea which came with lots of salgadinos and docinos (sweet and salty apitizers).

I got a lot of support while I was on my mission. My mom was the one who planted the seed and was my biggest cheerleader (she always is). My grandma wrote me every week and even though my dad may have wished I wasn't there he did send the best packages. He saved up all the funny papers for me and sent me things like canned raviolies and peanut butter, oh, and pez, how I loved the pez.

Only Eight Left

That's how many pie pops are left this afternoon (I won't tell you how many there were to begin with). I saw them here and had to try them! Their pops are way cuter than mine, but it was my first time so I don't feel too bad. I was planning on having them for book club tonight but at the last minute EVERYONE couldn't come. I guess that is good and bad, I was looking forward to a girls night but now I don't have to clean my house and all the pie pops are for me (and Wade I guess)!Fun, easy, and yummy. I used blue berry filling, which was good, but next time I would use something a little tart, like cherry. This was also my first attempt at pie crust from scratch. I think it went pretty well.

As for book club, we read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It is a kid's book, only 75 pages long, so I thought it would be a good one since we are all supper busy around Christmas. I was also looking for a book that has withstood the test of time. It seems like all the Christmas books coming out now are a little cheesy. This one was written over 30 years ago and is still getting great reviews. I enjoyed it, it had a great message. I'd like to make it into a Christmas tradition and read it to my boys every year. Neither of them would be into it just yet but in a couple more years it would be fun to read by the light of the tree.

Here are the dwarfs my kids represent in the last post: Doc(k), Bashful, Dopey, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy, and Happy.

The Seven Dwarfs

Tonight Wade and Ford watched Snow White while Dock and I fiddled around in the kitchen. I bought a bunch of VHS Disney movies off a friend for a dollar each and we have been loving them. Well, Ford isn't quite as into them as I am, but they sure are nice to have. If anyone else wants to get rid of their old VHS tapes, I'm looking for more Disney Movies. Here are some pictures of my little Dwarfs, see if you can guess which ones they represent.